Shadows of the Past
by Kenny Rutter
Summary: Yugi and friends come to the aid of a new duelist when someone from the Pharaoh's ancient past arises in a quest for vengeance.
1. The Dark Priest

**THE DARK PRIEST**

Night fell quickly on the land of the Pyramids. The heat of the day was soon replaced with the coolness of the night as the first stars appeared overhead. As the stars began to shine and the air cooled down from the day, the Pharaoh could only stand and watch as his subjects returned to their homes for the night.

Life hadn't been the same for Atem since the day he was named Pharaoh. It was a gift from the gods, sure, but Atem knew next to nothing about being a leader, and wasn't that what a Pharaoh was supposed to do – lead his subjects? He had been studying with his mentor, Simon Muran, since he was a young boy, but ever since he had inherited the throne six months ago, Atem was beginning to feel shut in. At just seventeen years old, he wanted to be out among the masses and explore the city. There was so much he wanted to see, so much he wanted to do! He missed his childhood friends, whom he was sure he may never be allowed to see again thanks to his new responsibilities, but above all else, he wanted to go to the dueling grounds.

By rights, the dueling grounds were forbidden from the citizens of the city, but now that he was Pharaoh, Atem knew that those restrictions did not extend to him. He could go to the dueling grounds at any time he wished, and watch as the priests dueled each other. Often, the duels were for the enjoyment of the priests, but on occasion, the duels could be for something more. Atem knew that the previous Pharaoh used the duels as a substitute for war, challenging other lords and priests in what the priests called "Shadow Games". Atem had never witnessed a Shadow Game before, so he figured that tonight would be his best chance.

Besides, he was Pharaoh, a king chosen by the gods, so he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. So after checking to make sure Simon had gone to bed for the night, Atem slipped out, leaving through an open window.

It had been so long since Atem had just wandered the streets of the city. He had almost forgotten how the gravel sounded under his sandals, or the sweet smell of the papyrus being wafted over the city from the air coming off of the Nile. Ever since he had been named Pharaoh and moved to the palace, he hadn't been able to just mingle amongst the citizens, and since there were very few people on the streets – at least, not outside of the bazaar – he could move in relative ease without having to deal with the wandering eyes of the citizens.

Even from here, he could hear the voices coming from the bazaar. But while he would have liked to have stayed to socialize, there was only one place he wanted to go.

The dueling grounds weren't far from here.

Sneaking through the alleys to avoid the bazaar – Atem still felt uncomfortable whenever anyone spoke to him in a regal manner; he was sure he would soon grow out of that at some time in the future – he soon found himself at the dueling grounds. The stairs leading up to the dueling grounds were steep, and Atem would have been lying to himself if he thought that this wasn't even a little bit intimidating. He had never been here before, had never been allowed here before – he heard a story of a fisherman who once wandered onto the dueling grounds by mistake and was punished by being stoned to death. But Atem was Pharaoh; there was no way he would suffer the same fate.

 _After all,_ he mentally told himself, _if you think about it, the priests who duel here technically work for me._

Taking a deep breath, Atem began to climb the stairs.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the top, and was rewarded with a spectacular sight.

There were two priests, currently in the middle of a duel. He recognized the both of them from his coronation six months ago – the one on the left of the field, commanding a grand white dragon, was named Seto; the other priest, the one on the right of the field, commanding a grotesque beast with more eyes than Atem had thought possible on any creature outside of a god, was named Heishin. He had met the both of them on the day he was named Pharaoh, and while both spoke to him with the respect and reverence that came with Atem's title, both priests struck him as a little….What was the word? High strung? At least, that was the impression he got from Seto; Heishin was more difficult for him to read.

Atem watched with baited breath as the two priests dueled.

"Your Thousand-Eyes Restrict is a powerful beast, true," Seto was saying. "But given that its attack power is at zero, it is still weaker than my Blue Eyes White Dragon. End this Shadow Game, my great beast."

Atem watched, wide eyed, as the great white dragon's mouth opened, and out shot a beam of pure white light. The beam of light enveloped Heishin's monster, reducing it to dust.

"You are now without any monsters on your side of the field, Heishin, and you are also down three thousand life. The next attack will end it," Seto boasted.

Heishin bared his teeth, growling like a beast. "You forget, Seto, that it was I who taught you to play these Shadow Games."

"I haven't forgotten," Seto replied. "But there comes a time when the student must surpass the teacher, and this is that time. Make your move, Heishin." He glanced over at Atem, who was now sitting on one of the steps leading into the dueling field, watching intently. "After all, you would not wish to disappoint our young Pharaoh now, would you?"

Heishin only now noticed Atem sitting there, watching them. "Pharaoh?" he repeated. "Forgive me, My King. I didn't notice you there."

"It's okay, Heishin," Atem said. "I would have spoken up, but I didn't want to interrupt your duel. Please, continue. I believe it was Heishin's turn."

"Yes," Heishin agreed. "Yes, it was. Seto, you may be right about the student surpassing the teacher, but I do not believe that this will be that day. For now I summon the Dark Ruler Ha Des." A stone tablet rose from the ground, depicting a horribly disfigured man, horned, tall and rotten, dressed in ornate robes. A second later, the carving on the tablet became a tangible being. "He may only have an attack power of 2450, but that is about to change, for I give him the power of the Horn of the Unicorn, increasing his attack power by 700, for a total attack power of 3150, more than enough to slay your dragon. I command you, Ha Des!"

Both Seto and Atem gasped as the Blue Eyes White Dragon was enveloped in a dark cloud coming from the Dark Ruler Ha Des's mouth. The skin melted off, revealing the skeleton underneath, and with nothing to support the bones, the skeleton collapsed at its master's feet.

Seto growled in frustration; the Blue Eyes White Dragon was the most powerful monster he commanded, and without it, he was defenseless against Heishin's more powerful monster. He winced as the Dark Ruler Ha Des laughed at him.

"Do you wish to continue, Seto?" Heishin taunted.

Seto clenched a fist and closed his eyes. "I have nothing left with which to combat you, Heishin. Once again, you win, my teacher."

Atem stood and applauded. "Impressive. I only wish I had come here earlier to see the duel in full. And if it's not too much to ask of the both of you – I would like to know how to play these games. If what my predecessor said is true, then it would be a decent alternative to going to war with other nations."

"Perhaps some other time, My Pharaoh," Heishin said politely. "It seems Seto still needs some lessons first."

"I don't need any more lessons, Heishin," Seto shot back. "What I need is to command stronger beasts."

"Stronger beasts do not replace skill, Seto," Heishin responded. He turned to Atem. "If you wish, Pharaoh, consider that your first lesson. But perhaps, My King, if you wish to come by tomorrow when you are able, we can begin your lessons there."

"I would love to, Heishin," Atem said. "You have my thanks. And congratulations on the win."

Some short time later, Atem was on his way back to the palace. Seto and Heishin had gone off, though they refused to say where, and Atem didn't want to press the issue. Fortunately for him, the return trip was just as quiet as his initial trip to the dueling grounds. The palace was just as quiet as it was when he left earlier, and as he climbed through the window, he found himself ready to get to bed.

########################################

The sound of screaming woke Atem from his sleep. He quickly climbed up from his bed and, without even bothering with his sandals, hurried out of his room.

It was chaos. There were servants running throughout the halls, some leaping over the bodies of the guards and other servants. Atem could smell smoke and hear more screaming coming from down the once pristine halls. Blood splattered the floors and walls, along with plaster from the broken walls and pillars.

Atem hurried down the hall, reaching Simon's room. "Simon!"

"Atem! Over here!"

Simon was hiding behind one of the curtains near the window. Atem hurried over to him. Simon was holding a sword in one hand; his other arm was hanging limply at his side, a large gash torn into it and bleeding profusely.

"Simon! What's happening?" Atem asked desperately.

"It was Heishin," Simon answered.

"Heishin?" Atem repeated. "I don't understand."

"He's leading a coup against the Pharaoh," Simon said. He winced as blood oozed from his wound. "That means he seeks to end your life, Atem!"

"But – I still do not understand."

"I may be able to help you with that," a voice said.

Atem turned to the door to the room. Standing there, his broad frame taking up most of the doorway, was Heishin. Atem stood up from where Simon had kneeled down and glared at the priest.

"You dare to revolt against your king?" he growled.

"You are no king, Atem," Heishin replied. "You are a simple commoner who stumbled into the role of Pharaoh. By rights, the title of Pharaoh should belong to me!"

"Unfortunately for you, Heishin," Simon said, "it doesn't work like that."

"Perhaps not, old fool," Heishin responded, "but once all seven Millennium Items are within my possession –"

"You seek the Millennium Items?" Atem gasped. "Those seven mystical items were designed to keep the dark powers of the Shadow Games in check! If you gather them all, you could bring Armageddon down upon this world!"

"Yes, I shall," Heishin said. "And upon the ruins of the world, I shall rebuild it in my own image!"

"You're mad," Simon growled. He climbed to his feet and charged for Heishin, sword raised. Atem could only watch as his mentor charged for the traitorous priest –

Only to drop as an arrow struck him in the neck.

Something clattered on the floor as Simon fell, and a small, gold pyramid fell out of his robes.

"The Millennium Puzzle," Heishin said with glee. "That is the last one I require."

Atem lunged for the Millennium Puzzle and snatched it from the floor. "I will never allow you to release those dark powers upon the world. If you truly want this Millennium Puzzle, then you will have to defeat me. High Priest Heishin, I challenge you to a Shadow Game!"

Heishin couldn't help but laugh. "You, duel me? You admitted last night that you have little to no grasp of the Shadow Games. I, on the other hand, have been well-versed in the Shadow Games since I was your age. And besides, didn't you just say that the Millennium Items were created to keep those dark powers in check? How can you possibly hope to defeat me, Pharaoh?"

"The Millennium Items were created to house the dark powers of the Shadow Games, yes, but by tapping into one Millennium Item, I can channel just a little bit of those dark powers." He held the Millennium Puzzle tightly within his hands. "Forbidden powers, I summon thee – guide me in this dark time! Help me win this Shadow Game!"

Atem could feel the power coursing through his body as the Millennium Puzzle glowed with a brilliant light. As the light faded, Atem could still feel the powers of the Millennium Puzzle flowing through him. He felt as though he had become a completely different person, as five stone tablets appeared in front of him, and within his mind, he knew that his total life counter was up to 8000.

Five stone tablets had appeared before Heishin, and his own life counter was up to 8000.

"Since this Shadow Game was your idea, Pharaoh, you may start this game," Heishin offered.

"Very well, I shall," Atem said. "I suppose I will begin by hiding one magical spell from your sight, before bringing forth the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, with an attack power of 1400." Out of one of the stone tablets came a small, blue dragon. It snarled at Heishin.

"I would expect nothing less from a novice such as yourself," Heishin laughed. "But unfortunately for you, the powers granted by the Millennium Puzzle will not be enough to protect you from the destructive powers of the forbidden one himself." Atem gasped, knowing well what Heishin meant, as even those who never played the Shadow Games before knew of the mightiest monster of them all.

Heishin revealed his five stone tablets, each one marked with a piece of a human body – two arms, two legs, and a head with a torso.

"I call upon the powers of Exodia, The Forbidden One!"

Atem could only watch as a tall, muscular beast emerged from the stone tablets and raised a hand at his Winged Dragon. Fire shot out of one of Exodia's hands, reducing the dragon to nothing but dust, and knocking Atem to his knees in shock and defeat.

"Of course, it is mostly the luck of the draw,"Heishin said as he stepped towards the young Pharaoh, Simon's sword in his hand. "And now, Pharaoh, your title – and the final Millennium Item – belongs to me."

"I think not," Atem said. He clutched the Millennium Puzzle in his hands and raised it above his head. "You may destroy my body, but my soul will live on within this Puzzle, and I know that you will not be able to rebuild it." With a grunt, he heaved the Millennium Puzzle to the floor –

Shattering it into hundreds of pieces!

"No!" Heishin cried, and he thrust his sword into Atem's heart.


	2. New Kid in Town

**NEW KID IN TOWN**

If there was one thing Curtis Miller wasn't very fond of, it was feeling out of place, and he knew that moving to this new town, starting this new school, would make him feel incredibly out of place. The only people he would know in this "Domino City" – _What a dumb name for a town_ , he said to himself – would be his mother and older sister. He would be an outcast, but unfortunately for him, he had no say in the matter.

This was all his mother's idea. After his father was killed in the line of duty – Curtis's father had been a police officer and had died in a shootout three years ago – his mother had wanted them to leave their old home, if only to get away from the terrible memory of the day his father had died. And with the money they got by way of the survivors' benefits, she quickly began looking for a new place for them to live. Curtis would have preferred to stay where he was, and he was sure his sister Stephanie would have as well.

But six months ago, his mother had found the perfect place in this city by the coast, and they were now unpacking, finishing moving in.

"What do you think, guys?" his mother asked Curtis and Stephanie as they set up the living room. "Nice place, isn't it?"

"I guess it's okay," Stephanie said.

"It could be worse, Mom," Curtis added. "We could have, oh, I don't know, not left at all."

"Curtis, you know why we did this," his mother said.

"I know, Mom," Curtis replied. "And I went along with it, didn't I? Just because I'm going along with it doesn't mean that I have to like it."

His mother knew that Curtis was upset with her. And why wouldn't he be? To Curtis, he had just been forcibly removed from the home and the life he had known his entire life and been brought out to some place that was totally alien to him. But he was the only one saying anything; Stephanie could have cared less, and she had made that fact known when they began the move.

Leaving had meant having to say goodbye to all his friends, even though he knew they were just one text or Skype call away. But even with that fact, Curtis still felt hurt inside. But the more he thought about it, the more he thought about what his father would have said in this situation.

"Chin up, Curtis. Everything will turn out fine in the end. Think of this as a chance to start fresh. Everyone goes through it. And I guess it's your turn now, so the only thing you can do is make the best out of a seemingly bad situation."

At least, that was what Curtis thought his father would have said.

He tried to keep those words in his mind as they continued setting up the house on the suburbs of the bustling city. Even from here, he could hear all the activity, mainly the traffic, but as he was setting up his bedroom, he noticed something when he stopped and looked out the window. It looked like a tall tower, stretching far above the rest of the city, the sunlight beaming off of the glass. It looked like an important building, but as far as Curtis was concerned, it had nothing to do with him.

Dinner was a pizza from the local Pizza Hut, and a few hours later, Curtis was sleeping in his new bedroom in his new home, waiting for tomorrow, when he would start his first day at his new school.

The morning came faster than Curtis had expected, and by seven AM he was on his way to class for the first time in Domino City. The path took them past several warehouses along the docks, and as they passed the tower Curtis had seen yesterday, he could finally see just how tall it was. It must have stretched several hundred feet into the air, and just above the front doors, emblazoned on the overhead, were the words "Kaiba Corp."

"Are you excited, Curtis?" his mother asked.

"That's not exactly the word I'd use," Curtis answered. ""Nervous is looking pretty good right now."

"Oh Curtis. I know it's a tough transition for all of us, but we have to –"

"Make the best of it, I know," Curtis snapped. "Maybe I will, but it won't happen overnight." He took a breath. "Sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

His mother shook her head. "No, Curtis, you don't have to apologize for anything. Really, I should be apologizing. I just sprung this on you and Stephanie without even asking your thoughts on the matter." She brought the car to a stop in front of the building that Curtis guessed was Domino High. "Just promise me you'll try to make a good first impression today."

Curtis opened the door and slung his book bag over his shoulders. "I promise, Mom. I'll see you this afternoon."

"Love you, son."

"Love you too, Mom." With that, he shut the car door and stepped up to the school, taking his first steps through its doors.

Curtis immediately felt out of place as he walked through the halls, past the other students as they walked past him or opened their lockers. He tried not to stare at them, tried not to draw attention to himself, as he made his way to the classroom marked on his schedule. He had no idea who he would meet, no idea if they would be friendly, and no idea what he would say or do.

He stood outside the door to the classroom, trying to calm his nerves. It was his first time being the new kid; he had to make a good first impression, just like his mother had asked him to.

The door swung inward as the teacher, a tall, older man, opened it. "You must be Curtis Miller. Come on in." Curtis followed him into the room, which was already full of his new classmates. "Class! We've got a new student with us today. Introduce yourself."

Curtis breathed. "Hi. I'm Curtis Miller. I'm, uh, I'm new in town. Just moved in yesterday." No one said anything, but the tall boy with the messy blonde hair in the back waved to him.

"We're happy to have you, Curtis," the teacher said. "Why don't you go take the empty seat back there between Joey and Tristan and we'll get started."

Slowly, Curtis made his way to the seat in question, situated between the tall blonde boy and another boy, a tall boy with dark brown hair. He set his book bag down on the floor as he sat down.

"Nice to meet'cha, Curtis," the blonde boy said. "Name's Joey Wheeler. Maybe you've heard of me?"

Curtis shook his head. "No. Should I?"

"What?" Joey cried. "How can you not – I was runner-up at Duelist Kingdom!"

"Sorry, Joey, but that means nothing to me."

The brown-haired boy spoke up. "Everyone knows about Duelist Kingdom."

"Not me," Curtis answered, shaking his head. "And you are…."

"Tristan Taylor. How're you doing, new guy?"

"Okay, everyone, quiet down," the teacher called from the front of the class.

###############################

The end of the day came faster than Curtis had expected. He had been going between classes, meeting more students, including a shy boy named Bakura – he had said he was born to Japanese parents living in England – and now he was on his way to the locker he had been given to put his books away before going home.

He would have to walk; his mother wouldn't be home for another few hours – besides, she also had to pick up Stephanie from her new job at the local diner – but that was fine; Curtis had to walk home before, just not in this city.

As he passed the first classroom he had been in today, he heard a voice call out to him.

"Yo, Curtis! Come here for a minute!"

That voice belonged to Joey Wheeler, who was in the room with a few other students, including Tristan, Bakura, and two other students Curtis didn't recognize. One was a slightly shorter boy with dark hair and yellow bangs – a bit of an odd choice, if Curtis was being honest – and a tall, very pretty girl with dark brown hair. Curtis was so busy eyeing her that he nearly ran into one of the desks.

"Dude, you gotta watch where you're going," Joey said.

"Sorry," Curtis said, trying to hide the fact that he had clearly been checking the girl out. "So, uh, who are –"

"You must be the new student Joey was talking about," the shorter boy said. "I'm Yugi Moto."

"Tea Gardner," the girl said. "Nice to meet you."

"Curtis Miller; same goes for me." He looked down at the table Joey and Yugi were sitting at, now noticing the cards they were holding in their hands. "So what's going on here? A game of Go Fish or something?"

"Go Fish?" Tristan repeated. "No, man. Duel Monsters."

"Never heard of it."

All eyes turned to him, all of them wide with surprise. "How can you not have heard of this game?" Bakura asked. "It's only the most popular card game there is."

"Must not be popular enough," Curtis said, "because I've never heard of it."

"What kind of backwater country have you been living in this whole time?" Joey asked.

"Lay off, Joey," Yugi said. "Just because it's popular doesn't mean everyone knows it." He turned to Curtis. "You want to learn how to play?"

"I don't know," Curtis said. "The last time I played any kind of card game was when I played Canasta with my aunt and grandmother. Not exactly my thing."

"Don't worry. This is nothing like that kind of game. Come on, Joey – let's play a game and show Curtis how it works."

"You're on, Yugi."

Tristan reached into his book bag and pulled out a pencil and a pad of paper. "So Curtis, you know how most games, the goal is to get the most points by the end? Well, in this game, the goal is to reduce your opponent down to no points at the end of the game."

Curtis couldn't help but scratch his head. "I don't get it."

"Both players start off with 8,000 Life Points," Yugi explained. "The goal of the game is to use a combination of monsters, spells, and traps to reduce your opponent down to zero Life Points before he can do the same to you. Your deck consists of anywhere between forty and sixty cards, with a fifteen card side deck if you so choose and as many as you want in an extra deck, which is where any Fusions would go."

"I still don't get it."

"We'll get to that later," Joey said. "So at the start of the duel, we each draw five cards from the top of our deck, and at the beginning of each turn – after the first turn – we each only draw one card. So, I'll go first." He picked up five cards from his deck, as did Yugi. "Whenever you make a play, you need to announce what you're doing so your opponent knows, so I'm going to put two face down in my spell and trap zone, then summon Alligator's Sword in Attack Mode." He put two cards down on the table, before setting another one in front of them, a card depicting a bipedal alligator wielding a scimitar sword.

"Attack mode?" Curtis asked.

"There are different ways to play a card, depending on what that card is," Yugi explained. He showed Curtis his hand. "See these green cards? These are Spell Cards. They go in the Spell and Trap Zone, sometimes referred to as the 'Back Row'. You can put Spell Cards face up if you want to use their effects, but Trap Cards have to be played face down, and some can be activated during your opponent's turn to either negate their attack or destroy their monster. And this one with the yellow background? That's a monster. See these stars on the top right, just under the monster's name? These tell you the monster's power level. If a monster has four stars or less, you can go ahead and play it, but if it has more than that, you need to tribute a monster on your side of the field, unless you use a card effect via a monster or a Spell Card." He pulled the monster card from his hand and handed it over to Curtis. "But what you really need to pay attention to are these little numbers on the bottom right corner. Those are your monster's Attack and Defense Points, and you use them depending on which position you place your monster. Look at Joey's card. See how it's set vertically face up? That means it's in Attack Position. It has 1500 Attack Points, and the monster I have in my hand only has 1400. That means that if I were to play it in Attack Position, it would be defeated and I would lose 100 Life Points, so I'm going to play it in Defense Position." He took the card from Curtis and put it on the table, face up and horizontal. "So I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress in Defense Position."

"My Alligator's Sword can still beat Yugi's dragon," Joey put in. "But because it's in Defense Position, he won't lose any Life Points. But Yugi didn't say his turn was over, so he can still do something."

"Which I will," Yugi said, "by putting this card face down in my Spell and Trap Zone, and pass the turn over to you, Joey."

Joey drew one card from the top of his deck. "Then I'll reveal one of my face down cards, Shard of Greed."

"That's a…Trap Card?" Curtis asked.

"Spell Card," Joey corrected him. "Every time I draw a card, I put one Greed Counter on it." He produced a few coins from his pocket and put one coin on the card. "Once it has two Greed Counters, I can then draw two cards, but now my Alligator's Sword will attack Yugi's Winged Dragon, sending it to the Graveyard – that's what we call the discard pile in this game."

Yugi moved the dragon to the space in front of his deck. "Because my Winged Dragon was in Defense Position, I don't lose any Life Points."

"So you basically used your dragon as a meat shield," Curtis guessed.

"That's one way of looking at it," Tea replied. "Sometimes you have to."

"Of course, it's all part of a duelist's particular strategy," Bakura explained. "Some duelists prefer defense over offense, while some duelists try to use pure brute force while playing."

Joey raised a hand. "Guilty of that last one for a while."

It was Yugi's turn now. He picked a card up from the top of his deck, and the game continued.


	3. The Makings of a Duelist

**THE MAKINGS OF A DUELIST**

The mid-afternoon sun bounced off of the concrete, making the already hot air feel even hotter. Originally coming from Iowa, Curtis wasn't used to this kind of weather. And yet, he found himself ignoring the heat as he walked with his new friends, listening to them tell him about that card game. The more he heard, the more interesting it sounded, to the point where, not too long ago, he said he wanted to play it for himself.

"Well, you're in luck," Yugi said. "My grandpa owns a game shop here in town; we can get you set up with a deck of your choice."

"Yeah, and we can get you a duel disk, too," Joey added. "That way you can duel someone on the go."

"Why not just play tabletop like you guys were earlier?" Curtis asked.

"We'll show you later," Yugi said as they approached the electronics shop. The change in temperature was felt almost immediately as they stepped through the door and into the air conditioning. "Excuse me," Yugi called to the man at the counter – his face was buried in a magazine. "Our friend here would like to buy a duel disk."

"That right?" the clerk asked as he put the magazine down. He turned to his computer and clicked on something with his mouse. "And who is this duel disk being registered to?"

"Curtis Miller," Curtis answered.

"Birthday?"

"June 18, 2001."

The clerk typed away on his keyboard. "Okay, Mr. Miller. You are now officially a registered duelist in the KaibaCorp databanks." He reached under the counter, coming back up a second later, holding a large box. Printed on the box was an image of a wrist mounted device, with a retractable card field attached to it. "One duel disk, all yours."

Curtis took the box from the clerk. It was lighter than he'd expected. He turned the box over, examining the various images on the box, one of which showed two duelists standing across from each other.

He couldn't help the excitement welling up inside of him. Part of that was probably due to him finally feeling not as out of place as he had this morning. He couldn't wait to get home and try this thing out.

Then again, it was just a giant hunk of plastic, wasn't it?

Fifteen minutes later, they were approaching the shop Yugi's grandfather owned. It was a little shop situated in the square. As they stepped through the door, Curtis couldn't help but notice just how quiet and quaint the place was. The smell of cardboard from the board games wafted into his nose, and he took in the sights of the various games and toys on the shelves, including several Duel Monsters cards, before spotting the elderly man cleaning the counter at the back of the shop.

"Hey Grandpa," Yugi said as they approached. "Do you think you can help our new friend Curtis build his very first deck?"

"First deck?" Yugi's grandpa repeated. "You're new to Duel Monsters, aren't you?"

"I literally just learned about it an hour ago," Curtis answered.

"Well, you're in luck," Yugi's grandpa said. "I just happen to have a few new decks ready to be purchased." He pulled three boxes up from under the counter, one showing a large blue dragon, one showing some kind of robot, and the one that caught his eye, one showing a samurai. "Take your pick."

"This one," Curtis said, pointing to the box with the samurai on it. "Hey, samurai are cool."

"That's the Six Samurai deck," Joey explained as Yugi's grandpa opened the box, letting Curtis take out the cards. "That one went to the regional championships last month. Those card's ain't too bad."

Curtis slowly flipped through the deck, checking each card as he went, counting out a total of fifty-six cards – most of them were monsters, spells, and traps, as Yugi and his friends had explained earlier, but there was one that Curtis didn't recognize. Unlike the other monster cards, which had yellow or orange backgrounds, this one had a black background, and the stars indicating the card's power level were on the left side instead of the right side.

"What's this one?" he asked, showing the card to Yugi's grandpa. "Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien?"

"That's an XYZ monster," Yugi's grandpa answered.

"X-Y-Z?" Curtis repeated.

"No, it's pronounced "exceez," Joey said. "Like 'exceed'. You get it?"

"It's a special type of Fusion monster that can be summoned without the need of a card like Polymerization," Yugi's grandpa continued, ignoring Joey. "Instead, you use two Level Four monsters overlapping each other in one Monster Space on the field. All XYZ monsters have a special effect performed by detaching one XYZ material monster. Shien, for example, can detach one material monster to increase another Six Samurai's Attack Points to 2000 for one turn."

"Okay, that's cool," Curtis said. "But this deck doesn't have sixty cards."

"Not every deck needs sixty cards," Tristan said. "Remember, each deck can have no less than forty but no more than sixty. If you want to make a side deck, it must have a maximum of fifteen cards, and the same goes for your extra deck – that's where all Fusion monsters go."

"I think I get it," Curtis said. "Man, I can't wait to try this out." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. "Thanks."

"Stop back in any time if you want to get some more cards or a few points," Yugi's grandpa said as they headed for the door.

"So what do you want to do now, Curtis?" Yugi asked. "We can give you a practice duel right now if you'd like."

"Actually, I'd like to go home first," Curtis answered. "Show this stuff to my mom and sister if they're home, and get something to eat. Hey, I got an idea – how about you guys come along. At least that way Mom will know today wasn't a bust."

"I don't see any harm in it," Yugi said.

################################

No one was home when they arrived. Curtis found the spare key hidden in the lock box next to the door – it took him a minute to remember what the key code was – and they stepped inside. Curtis dropped his book bag on the couch and went to the kitchen, grabbing a knife from the drawer and using it to open the duel disk box.

The duel disk itself was lighter and much more lustrous than he would have thought; he thought it'd be heavy, but then again, he had been carrying it under his arm for nearly an hour and only now started to feel fatigue from that, and the color to be dull, but instead, it was very light and very vibrant. He pressed a button on the top of the duel disk, in the red section next to the digital readout. A digital number appeared on the small screen – 8000.

Looking through the instructions, Curtis found where to put his deck of cards, in a slot just under the digital readout on the wrist mounted section. The disk itself fit nicely over his wrist, the strap holding it down tightly, but not so tight that it cut off circulation to his hand. Pressing another button on the underside of the disk swung the playing field out and forward, the two halves coming together into one.

"Neat," he whispered. He looked down at the instructions again. "What's this? 'Holographic projector'? The heck is that?"

"We'll show you," Yugi said. "Come on out back."

Curtis led them to the backyard. As they went, Yugi dug into his backpack and pulled out his own duel disk. He put it on his arm and set the deck.

"We should probably put a little bit of distance between us," Yugi said. "You'll see why in a bit."

"Okay." Curtis walked backwards, until he and Yugi were at least fifteen yards apart. "Is this good?" he called over to Yugi.

"Perfect," Yugi said. "Now, there should be a pair of buttons on the sides of your duel disk. You see it?"

"Yeah."

"Press it."

Curtis pushed the buttons in question. Two sickle-shaped devices were launched from the duel disk, landing several feet away. They hummed to life.

"Okay, Curtis, we're ready to duel," Yugi said. He and Curtis both drew from their decks until they each held five cards. "I'll go first," he announced. "And I'll start by putting two cards face down." He inserted two cards into the little slots on his playing field, and as he did, two massive cards appeared in front of Yugi, hovering above the grass.

"Whoa," Curtis breathed.

"Just wait," Yugi cautioned. "Because now I summon my Apple Magician Girl." A second later, a cute girl in a red magician's outfit materialized out of the card.

"Holy shit," Curtis gasped. "Your monster's been brought to life."

"That's the point of the holographic projectors," Joey said. "That Seto Kaiba may be a rich jackass, but hey, he makes some neat stuff, gotta give him that."

"It's your turn, Curtis," Tea called.

Curtis shook his head; he was still in shock at the sight of a Duel Monsters card literally coming to life – that and he found himself eyeballing the Apple Magician Girl.

 _She's not real, no matter how sexy she is,_ he told himself as he drew a card from the top of his deck. _It's just the painting on a card brought to life thanks to a hologram._ He examined the six cards he now held in his hand – The Legendary Six Samurai, Kageki; Phoenix Wing Wind Blast; The Six Samurai, Irou; Six Samurai United; Luminous Spark; and Legendary Six Samurai, Kizan. The three monsters he held were low level monsters, with three of four stars each; Kageki had 200 Attack Points and 2000 Defense Points, Irou had 1700 Attack Points and 1200 Defense Points; and Kizan had 1800 Attack Points and 500 Defense Points. Yugi's Magician Girl had 1200 Attack Points and 800 Defense Points, and from the look of things, she was in Attack Position.

But then there were the two Spell Cards and one Trap Card Curtis held. There had to be some way to make use of them. The question was, how?

"Let's give this a try," Curtis said. "I summon The Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, in Attack Mode." A tall man in black samurai armor materialized in front of him, one hand on his sheath, the other hand holding his sharp sword. "He's got more attack power than your Magician Girl, so she's defeated and you're out 600 Life Points. Go, Kizan!" Kizan nodded, grunted, and charged, ready to cut the Apple Magician Girl down.

"Not so fast, Curtis," Yugi said smugly. "You forgot about my two face down cards. I reveal Spellbinding Circle, holding your samurai in place." A green ring appeared around Kizan, stopping him in his tracks. "Next, I'll activate Apple Magician Girl's special ability. Since you targeted her for attack, I get to summon one Level Five or lower Spellcaster from my hand, and I choose the Kiwi Magician Girl!" Another magician girl, this one in a green wizard robe, appeared. "If I hadn't used my Spellbinding Circle – which, by the way, is a permanent Trap Card until your samurai is destroyed or otherwise removed from the field – then I would have use Apple Magician Girl's other special ability to make Kiwi Magician Girl the target of your attack, while your samurai's Attack Points would have been cut in half down to 900."

"And that means…." Curtis pressed.

"That means that your Kizan would have been destroyed, and you would have been out 900 Life Points," Yugi continued. "Of course, if I didn't use that ability, both monsters would have been destroyed, since if two monsters have the same Attack Points, and one of them attacks while both are in Attack Position, they both would have been sent to the Graveyard. So now I'm going to use Kiwi Magician Girl's special ability – since I control a different Magician Girl on the field, Kiwi's Attack Points go up by 300, giving her a total of 2100 Attack Points. Also, thanks to Kiwi Magician Girl, all Spellcasters on my side of the field can't be targeted by card effects, meaning that card effects can't destroy them. So now here's the question, Curtis – is your turn over?"

Curtis wished he would have known what Yugi had planned, but at the same time, Yugi was the expert, and Curtis was the novice. There was no way he could have known what Yugi was going to do.

"I put one card face down," he announced, putting his Trap Card in the proper slot. "And now I switch my samurai to Defense Position."

"Can't do that," Tristan corrected him. "Unless a monster or card effect specifically says so, once a monster has been summoned, he has to stay that way until your next turn."

"Shit," Curtis growled. "Fine. Your turn, Yugi."

Yugi drew another card. "I play the Spell Card Swords of Revealing Light!" he announced. Curtis watched as several blades made of pure light energy surrounded his side of the field. "For three turns, you can't play any monsters in Defense Position, but you also can't attack."

"Damn it!" Curtis cursed.

"Next," Yugi continued, "I play the Spell Card Emblem of the Dragon Destroyer to add one Buster Blader from my deck to my hand." Yugi searched his deck, eventually finding the card he was looking for. With the proper card in hand, he shuffled his deck and put it back in the slot. "Now," he continued, "I'll sacrifice both of my Magician Girls to summon the Buster Blader I just drew." A soldier dressed in black and gold armor, wielding a curved, sharp sword, materialized. "And now, I'm going to attack your samurai. Since he has 1800 Attack Points and Buster Blader had 2600 Attack Points, you'll lose 800 Life Points."

"No!" Curtis yelled. "I activate my Trap Card, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast!" He took a few seconds to read the card's effect. "So by discarding one card from my hand, I can select one card you control and put it back on the top of your deck, and I choose your Spellbinding Circle."

Yugi removed the Trap Card from the field and put it into his Graveyard – a little slot across from his deck slot. "You should have picked Buster Blader," Yugi said. "Because Buster Blader attacks and destroys Kizan."

Curtis mentally kicked himself as Buster Blader swung his sword. Kizan tried to deflect the attack, but it was no good – he was bisected down the middle, and faded away. And with that attack, Curtis's Life Points dropped from 8000 to 7200.

"Your move, Curtis," Yugi said. "But with my Swords of Revealing Light, you can't do anything for another two turns."

"Damn," Curtis growled as he drew a card from his deck. It was a Trap Card, The Emperor's Holiday, which negated the effect of all Equip Spell Cards. "That won't help me much," he whispered. "Uh….Wait, this might help. I play the Spell Card Six Samurai United." He put the Spell Card into the slot. "It looks like a permanent Spell Card, and it says here that each time a Six Samurai monster is summoned, I put one Bushido Counter on this card until it has a total of two, at which point I can send it to the Graveyard and draw one card per Bushido Counter. So I'm going to put one Counter on there because I'm summoning The Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, in Attack Position." A four-armed samurai appeared on the field, dressed in red and black armor and holding a sword in each of its four hands. "And it says here that once he's Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level Four or lower Six Samurai monster from my hand, and this guy gets 1500 Attack Points, so I Special Summon The Six Samurai – Irou, in Attack Position, which not only gives Six Samurai United its second of two Bushido Counters, but also increases Kageki's Attack Points to 1700." Curtis put his Spell Card in the Graveyard and picked up two more cards from the top of his deck – The Six Samurai, Yariza; and The Six Samurai, Kamon.

"That doesn't do you much good, though," Yugi said. "Because of Swords of Revealing Light, you can't do anything, and even if you could, Buster Blader is still more powerful than your monsters."

"Maybe," Curtis agreed. "But if things go the way I want them, well….I have an idea that might be crazy enough to work, assuming everything goes well for me."

"I guess we'll find out," Yugi said. "I draw." He pulled one card from his deck. Curtis had an idea what it was – the card he had Yugi put back a little while ago, his Trap Card Spellbinding Circle. "Buster Blader is going to destroy your Kageki." Curtis watched, helpless, as Kageki was cut down, and his Life Points dropped from 7200 to 6300. "Your turn, Curtis, and at the end of my next turn, Swords of Revealing Light will fade away."

Curtis drew one card. He picked up The Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi. "I summon The Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi," Curtis announced. He put the card on the field, and a samurai dressed in green armor materialized. "Now I'm going to use his special effect – once per turn, I can remove two Six Samurai Monsters from my Graveyard to send one of your face up monsters back to your hand. So I remove Kageki and Kizan to send your Buster Blader back to your hand, and because I have a different Six Samurai monster on the field, Enishi's Attack Points rise to 2200, since he gets an additional 500 Attack Points for every other Six Samurai monster on the field. I still can't do anything thanks to your swords, but I'm sure that's about to change. But I'm not done yet. I don't know if I'm allowed to do this or not, but I'm going to do what your grandpa said earlier and use these two Level Four monsters as XYZ materials." He overlapped the two cards into one space on the field. "And that allows me to bring out Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien." Both monsters were converted into balls of light that came together, forming a tall man in a red and purple samurai robe, armed with a long, sharp sword. "I end my turn."

Yugi picked up one card. "I summon Silent Magician Level Four in Attack Mode," he announced, and a small boy in white magicians' robes appeared. "Next, I'll equip him with the Equip Spell Card Mage Power, giving him an extra 500 Attack Points for each Spell or Trap Card I control, giving him a total of 2000 Attack Points; plus, whenever you draw a card, I can place one Spell Counter on him until he has five, at which point I can tribute him for a Silent Magician Level Eight from my deck. I'll put one card face down, giving my Silent Magician a total of 2500, and it's your turn."

"You forget, Yugi, that your Swords of Revealing Light wear off now," Curtis said as the swords faded away. And that brings your Silent Magician back down to 2000 Attack Points, and I can now attack. Oh, but first, I'll set this card face down. Now, Shien is going to attack your Silent Magician, and you're going to lose 500 Life Points. It's not much, but it's a start."

"You fell for it again, Curtis," Yugi said. He revealed the card he just played – the Spellbinding Circle.

"Damn it!" Curtis yelled.

"Curtis, relax," Joey said. "We've all made that mistake once or twice."

"Joey's right," Yugi agreed. "No one becomes a master duelist overnight. It took both Joey and I years to learn how to play. Anyway, your Shien's stopped from attacking."

"Your Silent Samura's still weaker," Curtis pointed out.

"That can all change with the draw of a card," Yugi said as he drew a card. "I set one card face down, giving my Silent Magician a total of 2500 Attack Points. It's your turn, and I'll add one Spell Counter to my Silent Magician."

"But he still can't attack without destroying himself," Curtis said.

"I know," Yugi said. "That's why I ended my turn."

Curtis picked up one card from his deck. "This one looks like it can power up my samurai, but first, I'll play my Trap Card The Emperor's Holiday, to remove all Equip Spell Cards, so your little Magician is back to 2000 Attack Points. Next, I'll play this monster, who acts like an Equip Card – Spirit of the Six Samurai." Additional pieces of armor appeared over top of Shien. "This raises his attack power from 2500 to 3000. I still can't attack, but hey, it helps a little bit. Your turn."

Yugi drew a card. "I set one card face down, giving my Magician 2500 Attack Points. Your turn, and my Magician gets a second Spell Counter."

Curtis drew the top card from his deck. It was a Level Two monster called Shien's Footsoldier. But that wouldn't be much use against Yugi's Spellbinding Circle. He searched the cards in his hand.

 _Wait a minute,_ he thought. "I summon The Six Samurai – Kamon, in Attack Position." A samurai clad in brown armor and carrying what looked like a stick of dynamite appeared. "With his special ability, I can remove your Spellbinding Circle. He can't attack, but that's okay, because now that your Magician is down to 2000 Attack Points, the 3000 Attack Point Shien can attack and destroy it, reducing your Life Points to 7000." Shien cut down the Silent Samurai, slicing it in half at the middle. Yugi's Life Points dropped from 8000 to 7000, but he was still in the lead by 700 Life Points. "It's your turn, Yugi."

Yugi picked up a new card. "I discard one card from my hand to Special Summon The Tricky in Attack Position." He dropped one card into his Graveyard, before summoning a monster that looked like a court jester whose face had been replaced with a big red question mark. "He's stronger than your Kamon, so he attacks and you lose 500 Life Points." The Tricky grabbed Kamon and twisted his neck. As he faded away and Curtis put the card in his Graveyard, his Life Points dropped to 5800. "Your move."

The card Curtis picked up was a Field Spell Card, Temple of the Six. "I'm going to play this Field Spell Card, Temple of the Six. For each Six Samurai monster I summon, be it Normal or Special, I place one Bushido Counter on this card, and for each Bushido Counter, your monsters lose 100 Attack Points. So I'm going to summon The Six Samurai – Yariza. That's one Bushido Counter, and The Tricky drops to 1900 Attack Points. And now, I use Yariza's special effect – since I control a different Six Samurai monster, he can attack you directly, and you're out 1000 Life Points." Yugi's Life Points dropped to 6000 as Yariza slashed at him; the hologram passed through Yugi, though Yugi still winced in pain. "And now, Shien will destroy your monster, and you lose another 1100 Life Points." Shien raised its sword, ready to stab The Tricky and drop Yugi's Life Points to 4900.

Yugi smiled. "I don't think so," he said. "I reveal my Trap Card, Mirror Force! When you attack, I play this card to send your attack back at you and destroy all of your monsters in Attack Position."

"What?" Curtis yelled. He flinched as each of his monsters exploded. "No! I had a good thing going, too!"

"Yeah, you did," Yugi said as he removed his Trap Card. "But now it's my turn." He picked up a card. "I set one card face down, and The Tricky attacks you directly." Curtis winced as The Tricky punched him, dropping his Life Points down to 3900. "Your move, Curtis."

"Yeah, just – just give me a minute," Curtis said as he panted. That monster was just a hologram, but that punch felt so real; it actually hurt, knocking the breath out of Curtis's chest.

Curtis picked up a card – a Trap Card called Shien's Scheme. _Damn it,_ he thought. _That would have come in handy a minute ago._ He scanned the monsters in his hand. "I set one monster face down in Defense Position, and one card face down. Your move, Yugi."

Yugi looked at the card he just picked up. "The Tricky is going to attack your face down monster." The tricky grabbed the large hologram card and ripped it in half, revealing a small, hairy man carrying a spear.

"By destroying Shien's Footsoldier," Curtis said, "you activated his effect. Whenever he's destroyed, I can Special Summon a Level Three or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck." He sorted through his deck, picking out the first Level Three monster he saw – The Six Samurai, Yaichi – before shuffling his deck and putting it back. "Now I Special Summon the monster I just found: The Six Samurai, Yaichi." A samurai dressed in black and yellow armor and carrying a bow and arrow appeared on the field. "Unfortunately, I don't control any more Six Samurai monsters, so I can't use his effect to get rid of one of your Spell or Trap Cards, but I can add another Bushido Counter to Temple of the Six, dropping The Tricky's Attack Points down to 1800. Your turn."

Yugi played the Spell Card he just picked up. "I play Ego Boost. Until the end of this turn, I can give one of my monster's an additional 1000 Attack Points, and since The Tricky is the only monster I control, his Attack Points shoot up to 2800, and he attacks your samurai." The Tricky punched Yaichi, destroying him and dropping Curtis's Life points down to 2400.

Curtis picked up the top card on his deck, hoping it would be something that could help him.


	4. Lesson One

**LESSON ONE**

Yugi put his Spell Card in the graveyard. Curtis glanced down at his Life Point Counter – 2800 to Yugi's 4900. That last hit really did a number on him, and as far as he was aware, there was no way to bring his monsters or any of his spells and traps back from the Graveyard.

He let out a tiny growl of frustration as he picked up the top card of his deck. Yugi was a good duelist. A damn good one, too. But what was Curtis expecting? Yugi had been playing this game a lot longer than Curtis had; Curtis had only just heard about this game not two hours ago.

He looked at the card he picked up – Shien's Squire, a Level One monster with only 300 Attack Points and 700 Defense Points. That wouldn't do him much good, outside of acting like a meat shield. But that Spell Card – that might help, even a little bit.

 _Only one way to find out,_ he thought as he took the card from his hand. "I play the Spell Card Shien's Smoke Signal. It allows me to add one Level 3 or lower Six Samurai monster from my deck to my hand." He sorted through his deck, finding the first card he saw, before shuffling the deck and putting it back. "I can't do much with this monster except put it in face down Defense Position and end my turn."

"My move," Yugi said as he drew a card from his deck. "I Summon the Skilled White Magician in Attack Position." A tall man in white robes and armed with a long scepter materialized on the field. "Whenever a Spell Card is activated, I add a Spell Counter to my Skilled White Magician until he has three, at which point I can special summon Buster Blader from my hand, deck, or Graveyard. But right now, he's going to attack your defending monster." Skilled White Magician's scepter pierced the large hologram card, destroying The Six Samurai – Kamon. "And now, The Tricky is going to attack you directly." The Tricky punched Curtis again, dropping his Life Points down to 1000

####################################

Stephanie Miller smelled like a dirty kitchen. She had just gotten off work at the local diner, and while she made a decent enough pay – even though they were only ones and fives through tips – she was happy to have even a little bit of money in her pocket. What she wasn't happy about was the smell of canola oil stuck to her clothes. It would take several runs through the laundry to wash that smell out.

She and her mother found the door unlocked when they got home. "Curtis!" her mother called. "You home?"

"Out back, Mom! I'm with my new friends."

"Did he say new friends?" Stephanie asked. "That was fast."

They stepped through the sliding glass door leading to the back porch, and nearly collapsed in shock. Stephanie couldn't help but scream, as they saw the two creatures facing Curtis, standing between him and another boy.

"Oh my god," Stephanie breathed.

"Hey, relax," the boy with the messy blonde hair said. "They ain't hurting nobody."

"Mom, Stephanie, they're not real," Curtis said. "These monsters are just holograms."

"Holograms?" his mother repeated.

"That's right," the blonde haired boy said. "You must be Curtis's mom and sister. Name's Joey Wheeler. The guy your kid's dueling? That's my best bud, Yugi Moto. Tea and Tristan – they're a couple of nobodies."

"I'll show you who's a nobody, Wheeler!" Tristan cried.

"Guys, take it easy," Tea said. "The game's continuing."

"What kind of game –" Stephanie began.

"Believe it or not, it's a card game," Curtis said as he picked a card up off his deck. "This might help a little bit. I play the permanent Spell Card Dimensional Fissure." A dark void appeared between the two of them. "Now whenever a monster is sent to the Graveyard, it gets removed from play instead."

"This is too real to be a simple card game," Curtis's mother said. "Why not play something like Solitaire?"

"Solitaire? That's a snorefest," Joey said. "Duel Monsters is much more interesting and fun."

"I set one monster in Defense Position," Curtis continued. "Your turn, Yugi."

Yugi pulled a card off his deck. "By the way, Skilled White Magician gets a Spell Counter for Dimensional Fissure," he said. "Next, I'll sacrifice The Tricky to summon the Silent Magician in Attack Position." The Tricky faded away, and in its place appeared a tall, elegant woman in white wizard's robes, wearing a wide brimmed hat and holding a short scepter. "For each card in my hand, Silent Magician gains an extra 500 Attack Points, giving her a total of 2000 Attack Points, and she attacks your facedown monster." The Silent Magician's scepter slammed down on the hologram of the card, shattering it. "And now, Skilled White Magician attacks you for game." A blast of energy from Skilled White Magician's Scepter hit Curtis, reducing his Life Points to 0.

All of the holograms faded away.

The duel was over, and Yugi was the victor.

Not that Curtis was surprised. How could someone who had just started learning how to play this game beat someone who had been playing it probably since he was a child?

"Curtis!" his mother cried as she rushed to his side. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Curtis answered. "Really, it's nothing. It's just a game. Yugi was just showing me how to play."

Stephanie took a card off the top of Curtis's deck. "I don't see what's so special about these things. They're just cards."

"To some people, these simple cards are a way of life," Tea said. "We just like to play for fun."

Curtis took the card – Shadow of the Six Samurai, Shien – back from his sister and put it into his deck. "And I'm not going to lie, that was pretty fun. Though I may need some more lessons before I'm anywhere near Yugi's level."

"Well, tomorrow's Saturday, so if you want, you can come by my grandpa's shop and we can help teach you," Yugi offered. "You know, if your mom says it's okay."

"I'm just glad Curtis is starting to make some new friends," Curtis's mother said. "So it's okay with me."

"Cool. Thanks, Mom."

#####################################

Curtis spent the next hour in his room, going through his deck. There were so many cards he didn't get a chance to use – Reckless Greed, Great Shogun Shien, The Warrior Returning Alive, Cunning of the Six, Negate Attack, Dark Hole, Shattered Axe….Yugi was such a great duelist, and yet, somehow, either through dumb luck or pity on Yugi's part, Curtis managed to put up a decent fight, taking out nearly half of Yugi's Life Points.

Maybe tomorrow he would learn a few new techniques, get some more cards to help him out, and maybe get the chance to play Yugi again, or even play Joey – he had said that Yugi taught him everything he knew, so why not learn from one of Yugi's past apprentices, right?

"Curtis! Dinner's ready!" his mother called from the kitchen.

Curtis put the deck of cards on the nightstand and hurried downstairs. The delicious smell of meatloaf and gravy met him as he reached the kitchen, making his mouth water; he hadn't realized just how hungry he had been. Then again, he didn't eat breakfast, and all he had for lunch at school was a cheeseburger and some French fries.

"That meatloaf is calling my name," he said as he grabbed a plate off the counter.

"Well, someone's in a better mood than he was this morning," his mother pointed out. "I guess meeting some new friends helped out with that."

"It's making the transition easier, that's for sure," he said as he scooped some mashed potatoes onto his plate, drenching them and the slice of meatloaf in hot brown gravy.

"What were their names again?" his mother asked as they sat down.

"The one I was playing against was Yugi Moto," Curtis answered. "The spectators were Joey Wheeler, Tea Gardner, and Tristan Taylor. They all seem like pretty cool people." He turned to Stephanie. "What about you? Anything fun happen at the diner?"

"I almost kicked an old man in the face for getting a little too – I don't even want to talk about that," Stephanie answered.

"Yeah, let's forget I even said anything," Curtis said as he took a bite of meatloaf.

"So, what were those things you were using?" his mother asked. "Those things that brought your playing cards to life?"

"Duel disks," Curtis said. "They've got these cool holographic projectors that bring the characters on the cards to life. I'll have to show you sometime."

"No thanks," Stephanie said after taking a drink of tea. "It's just a silly card game."

"It's better than doing my nails and staring at posters of Harry Potter," Curtis shot back snidely.

"You little turd!"

"Okay, kids, that's enough," their mother called, instantly stopping whatever argument was about to come up. "Look, it's our first full day here, so let's just try to relax, okay?"

###############################

Curtis was up bright and early the next morning, sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of Honeycomb cereal. Normally, he was incredibly tired in the mornings, barely functional until he got soda or something in him, but not today. He was so excited for today, so excited for what Yugi and his grandpa could teach him about the game.

He downed the milk in the bowl as his mother came into the kitchen. "You're up early," she said as she prepared a cup of coffee. "Oh, that's right, you're meeting your new friends today, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Curtis said. He went to the sink to wash out his bowl and spoon. "It's probably going to just be Yugi and his grandpa, though." His phone beeped; he'd put it in his pocket, just in case he had to get a hold of Yugi and vice versa. He pulled the phone out of his pocket. There was one new message.

"Was that your friend?" his mother asked.

Curtis checked the message, reading it carefully. "No. It's from someone named Seto Kaiba. I know I've heard that name before – oh yeah, Joey mentioned him yesterday."

"What does he want?"

"He wants to meet me at noon," Curtis answered. He brought up his messenger and found Yugi's number. "Better let Yugi know that I won't be staying long."

################################

"Say WHAT? That rich jerk Kaiba invited you?" Joey screamed.

Curtis had been surprised to see Joey at Yugi's grandpa's game shop when he arrived; he had been under the impression that it would just be him, Yugi, and Yugi's grandpa, but then there was Joey, who said he also wanted to get a few more pointers from, as he put it, "the master".

That was, until Curtis told them why he couldn't stay for more than a few hours.

"I don't know how he got my phone number," Curtis said.

"When you got your duel disk yesterday, you became a registered duelist," Yugi explained. "All your information was uploaded to the KaibaCorp databanks – birthday, phone number, social security number, pretty much everything."

"I thought this was a city, not a dictatorship."

"Don't worry," Yugi continued. "Kaiba only uses that information to track how many duel disks are in use at the moment, that's all."

"That and call someone first thing in the morning," Curtis said. "But I still don't know why he extended a personal invitation to me."

"Probably wants to brag to you about how he's 'the world's greatest duelist'," Joey said snidely. "When we all know that Yugi here is the King of Games."

"Don't flaunt it, Joey," Yugi said. "Curtis isn't here to hear about any of that."

"Yeah, I got a little bit of time for a lesson or two before I have to go meet this Seto Kaiba person," Curtis agreed. He took his deck out of the slot on his duel disk and set it on the counter. "Yugi trounced me yesterday."

"Yeah, but you put up a good fight," Yugi said as his grandpa started flipping through Curtis's deck.

"Which is weird, because didn't Joey say that the Six Samurai deck went to the regional championships?" Curtis asked.

"A deck is only as good as the duelist using it," Grandpa said. "Lesson One, Curtis. Know your deck. Learn your deck. And when you do, you can beat even the strongest monsters."

"And like I said, Curtis, you don't become a master duelist the moment you pick up a card," Yugi added. "And like you saw yesterday, if you have the proper Spell Cards, you can make even the weakest monster the most powerful in your deck."

"And that's not taking into account that Yugi didn't even use his signature card yesterday," Joey said.

"Signature card? What's that?" Curtis asked.

Yugi reached into the little pouch attached to his belt and produced a card depicting a man in purple robes, carrying a green scepter. "This is my favorite card in the game – the Dark Magician. He's never steered me wrong. And with an Attack Power of 2500, he's also one of the strongest monsters in the entire game."

"That's pretty cool," Curtis said as Yugi put the card back into the pouch.

It was then that he noticed the necklace Yugi was wearing. "Doesn't that thing get heavy?" he asked. "Your necklace, I mean. It's a gold pyramid attached to a chain. Doesn't it weight you down?"

"Not really," Yugi said, clutching the upside-down pyramid in his hands, showing Curtis the strange eye symbol on the front. "And it's not exactly a necklace. It's an ancient Egyptian artifact called the Millennium Puzzle."

"I got it for Yugi a few years ago on a trip to Egypt," Grandpa explained. "I figured it'd make a great birthday present."

"And boy did it," Yugi added. "Granted, it took me a long time to put it together, but when I did, I made a wish on the Puzzle – I wished for a true friend; I didn't have many friends when I was a kid, outside of Tea. But the Puzzle; it brought all of us together – Me, Tea, Joey, Tristan, Bakura, and it's all thanks to the spirit living within the Millennium Puzzle."

Curtis squinted his eyes skeptically at Yugi. "You're telling me there's a ghost living in that thing?" he asked dryly.

"Not a ghost, exactly," Joey answered. "It's actually the spirit of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh."

"Right," Curtis snarked. "And I'm a Power Ranger."

"Back to the topic at hand," Grandpa said, bringing everyone's attention back to Curtis's deck. He picked up two cards – the Trap Card The Emperor's Holiday, and the Spell Card Heavy Storm. "These are two decent cards, Curtis, but I should tell you that if you were to compete in any Duel Monsters tournaments, they're banned."

"You mean, illegal?" Curtis asked.

"Only in official tournaments," Grandpa answered. "For casual play, they're free reign. There are a lot of banned cards for tournaments." He pulled a box out from under the counter and opened it, bringing out two Spell Cards, one showing a pot with an evil grin painted on it, and the other one showing what looked like some kind of dagger. "Pot of Greed and Monster Reborn, for instance, were some of the first cards to be banned from official tournaments."

"Okay, but why?" Curtis asked.

"Pot of Greed lets the player draw two cards from the deck, and Monster Reborn brings back one monster from either player's Graveyard,"

"So what's so bad about that?" Curtis wondered.

"Well, some players were found having several copies of Pot of Greed in their decks, and Monster Reborn can bring back any monster from either Graveyard," Joey answered. "That means that if I'm playing someone in a tournament, and they use Monster Reborn, they can bring back my Red Eyes Black Dragon if it's in the Graveyard."

"And if you just keep drawing cards with Pot of Greed, you'll run out of cards to draw and lose by default," Yugi continued.

"So one was banned because it can bring back a really powerful monster, and the other was banned because it was being spammed?" Curtis asked.

"That about sums it up, yes," Grandpa said. He continued flipping through Curtis's deck. "Looks like you could use a few more cards, Curtis."

Curtis looked up at the nearby clock. "That may have to wait," he said. "I've got to get going if I'm going to meet Seto Kaiba." He took his deck back and placed it in his duel disk.

"Well, good luck with that," Yugi said. "But before you go – if Kaiba challenges you to a duel, don't be surprised if you lose to him, too. He doesn't hold the title of World's Greatest Duelist for no reason. But if you do have to duel against him, I'm going to give you one piece of advice: Trust yourself, trust your deck, and trust in the heart of the cards."

Curtis said noting – at least, nothing out loud. _Heart of the cards?_ he silently scoffed. _First he thinks he has some Egyptian king living in his necklace, and now he believes these cards are alive? They're just firm pieces of paper with drawings on them. I mean, I'm not going to deny anything he or anyone else says, but that doesn't mean I have to believe it, either._


	5. Seto Kaiba

**SETO KAIBA**

It was almost noon by the time they arrived at the KaibaCorp tower. From here, Curtis could see just how tall, how massive, the tower was. Stretching several hundred feet into the sky, the tower was covered top to bottom with panes of glass, reflecting the light off of them, nearly blinding him. The only part of the building that seemed like it wasn't a large window – in fact, the only part of the building he could see without hurting his neck – was the banner above the doors, with the words "KAIBACORP" engraved into it.

Curtis climbed out of the car, his mother and sister following a second later. "Just look at this place," his mother gasped. "It's huge!"

"This Kaiba guy must have a lot of money," Stephanie guessed.

"Well, Joey did say he was rich," Curtis said. He took his phone out of his pocket and checked the text he had gotten just a few moments ago – Seto Kaiba telling him to bring his duel disk and his deck. Curtis put the phone back into his pocket and looked at the duel disk strapped to his arm, his Six Samurai deck sitting perfectly in the deck slot. He wasn't sure exactly what this Kaiba was going to do with him, what kind of cards he would be using, and that made his stomach tighten into a tight knot. This would only be his second duel; he was sure he would get trounced again, until he learned some new strategies.

The three of them walked through the doors, into the air conditioned lobby, which was bustling with activity. Most of the people going this way and that were dressed in sharp business suits. Curtis could hear several phones ringing at once as the receptionists answered them.

But the big thing Curtis noticed was just how cold it was, and not just from the air conditioning. The cold steel look and feel of just the lobby was more than a little imposing, making Curtis feel incredibly small. Small and unimportant, compared to everyone else in this building – just in this room, even.

"We'd better go talk to the receptionist," his mother said. They walked up to the closest reception desk. "Excuse me," she said to the young woman behind the desk. "My son Curtis was invited here by….What was his name again, Curtis?"

"Seto Kaiba invited me," Curtis said. "And I brought my duel disk, like he asked me to."

"I'll let Mr. Kaiba know you've arrived," the receptionist said.

"I already know," a stern voice announced.

That stern voice belonged to a tall man coming off the nearby elevator. He was dressed in a dark shirt, dark pants, and a long white coat, flowing behind him as he walked. Strapped to his wrist was a duel disk, a deck of cards situated in the deck slot. His face was twisted in an angry scowl, his cold eyes focused on Curtis.

"Curtis Miller, I presume?"

"Yes. And I guess you're Seto Kaiba?"

"That's right." He glanced down at Curtis's wrist. "You've brought your duel disk. Good."

"Yeah, I was wondering why you wanted me to bring this," Curtis said.

"Because I want to duel you," Seto Kaiba answered. "How good are your skills?"

"I just had my first duel yesterday against Yugi Moto," Curtis replied. "I lost."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Kaiba said. "Yugi's a great duelist. Come with me." He turned and started for the elevator. Curtis, Stephanie, and their mother followed him. "How long did you last against Yugi?" he asked as the elevator doors closed.

"I managed to take down half of his Life Points before he beat me," Curtis answered as the elevator began to go up.

Kaiba smirked. "Well, that's not too bad for a novice. You certainly lasted longer than that hack of a duelist Joey Wheeler. Have you seen him duel yet?" Curtis just shook his head. "Play him sometime, and you'll see what I mean."

"I take it you've been playing this silly card game for a long time, haven't you, Mr. Kaiba?" Stephanie asked.

"Since the first cards hit the shelves," Kaiba answered. "My very first card came from Maximillian Pegasus, the man who created this game. My collection has grown since then, and now I have at least two copies of every card in the game." The elevator finally came to a stop; the doors opened into a wide room, the only colors besides white being the blue and red tiles on the floor, and the gray on the control room hanging above them. "This is where you and I will be dueling," Kaiba said. "Your mom and sister can watch from the control room."

Curtis followed Kaiba out of the elevator; a second later, the doors were closed, and it was going up again.

"Stand right here," Kaiba said, pointing to a small space on the floor. Curtis did as he was told, and Kaiba moved to stand across from him. "Not many people get a chance to duel against the world's greatest duelist, let alone someone who just started to play the game."

"I guess I'm honored, then," Curtis said. "And no, I'm not expecting an easy duel."

"Good, because I don't go easy on anyone."

The two of them activated their duel disks.

#############################

The elevator came to a stop at a large control room overlooking the room below. Julianne stepped out of the elevator, her daughter following her. There were at least thirty people in this room, many of them working the various computers and consoles. The only one not working at any kind of control station was a young boy, maybe about ten or eleven years old, who was standing at the windows looking down into the room below.

"You must be Curtis's mom and sister," the boy said.

"And you would be….Who?" Julianne asked.

"I'm Mokuba, Seto's brother." He turned back to the window; Julianne and Stephanie joined him. "You know, not many rookies get to play against Seto."

"Is he good?" Stephanie asked.

"Good? He's the greatest duelist in the world," Mokuba answered. "Curtis doesn't stand a chance."

Julianne couldn't help but worry; she didn't know much about this card game, save for what Curtis told her and Stephanie last night and a little bit this morning, but if this Seto Kaiba was really a master at this game, then maybe Mokuba was right.

 _Why am I worried?_ she silently asked herself. _It's just a silly card game. What could possibly go wrong?_


	6. The Ultimate Dragon

**THE ULTIMATE DRAGON**

Both duelists' Life Points were set to 8000, their holographic projectors were deployed, and they each held five cards in their hands. Curtis had a feeling he'd already lost this game – after all, if what Seto Kaiba had said was true, then he really was the best duelist in the world – but he would at least give it his all, like he did with Yugi yesterday.

"I'll be a nice guy and let you go first, Curtis Miller," Kaiba said.

"Okay, I will," Curtis said. He looked at the five cards in his hand – Different Dimension Reincarnation, Future Samurai, Negate Attack, Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, and Great Shogun Shien. "I'll put this card face down," he announced as he set Negate Attack into the proper slot, the holographic card appearing face down, hiding its contents from Kaiba's view. "And then I'll summon Future Samurai in Attack Position." A tall woman in flowing silver robes, with a blue visor over her eyes, and armed with a curved sword brimming with electricity, materialized on the field. "She has an attack power of 1600, and while she's on the field, she's treated as a Normal Monster, unless I happen to have a monster in my Graveyard, at which point –"

"At which point you can target and destroy one monster on the field," Kaiba finished for him. "I've seen it in action before. And besides, I know most of the cards in this game by heart; I know it's the rule, but you don't have to tell me what each card does."

Curtis chuckled nervously. "Sorry. Your turn."

Kaiba drew a card. "I summon Blade Knight in Attack Position." A knight in jet black armor, armed with a sharp sword, materialized. "Since I have five cards in my hand, his effect doesn't take place."

"What is his effect?" Curtis asked.

"If I have one card or less in my hand," Kaiba explained, "then Blade Knight gains an extra 400 Attack Points, which would have given him a total of 2000. But since his attack power is equal to your Future Samurai, I'm not going to attack. Instead, I'll put one card face down." He set a card. "And that will end my turn."

Curtis picked up a card – a Trap Card called Shien's Scheme. _Not sure how well this one will work right now,_ he thought. _I've got Great Shogun Shien, but he's a Level Seven monster, and I think Yugi said I need to tribute two monsters to bring him out. But Grandmaster of the Six Samurai can come out no problem._

"I tribute my Future Samurai," Curtis announced. Future Samurai faded away as he moved that card to the Graveyard. "And then I'll bring out Grandmaster of the Six Samurai." An old man with long white hair, metal arms, and a patch covering one eye appeared; the tip of his sword was resting on the ground as he awaited Curtis's orders. "Next, I'll put another card face down." Shien's Scheme went into the proper slot, the card appearing face down on the field. "And since Grandmaster of the Six Samurai has more attack power than your Blade Knight, you're out 500 Life Points. Take him, Grandmaster." The Grandmaster raised his sword and lunged for Blade Knight. Blade Knight tried to block, but the Grandmaster went under the Knight's sword and mowed him down at the hip.

Blade Knight shattered as the card was removed from the field. Kaiba's Life Points dropped to 7500. "Not bad," Kaiba complimented him as he drew a card. "I'll play the Spell Card Card of Sanctity. When I banish at least one card from my hand –" He put another card into his Graveyard – "I can then draw two more cards from my deck. Now, I'll set one monster in Defense Mode and end my turn."

Curtis drew a card. "Going on the defensive, huh? Okay, then I'll do this – summon The Six Samurai, Irou, in Attack Position." Irou appeared, a samurai wearing tattered robes and wielding a long katana. "And I'm going to use him to attack and destroy your defending monster." Irou stabbed the face down card on the field –

But the revealed monster, a grotesque cyclops, remained where it was.

"What the hell?" Curtis asked.

"You idiot," Kaiba laughed. "My Opticlops has 1700 Defense Points, the same amount of Attack Points that Irou has."

Curtis read the effect on Irou's card. "Yeah, but it says here that if I attack a monster in Defense Position, I can destroy it."

"Damn, I forgot about that," Kaiba cursed as he removed Opticlops from the field.

"And now that your field is empty, Grandmaster of the Six can attack you directly." The Grandmaster's sword slashed across Kaiba's chest, dropping his Life Points to 5400.

"Since I took battle damage, I activate my Trap Card," Kaiba announced, revealing his face down card. "Damage Gate! Whenever I take battle damage, I can Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard with an attack power less than or equal to the amount of damage I took. And the monster I choose my Opticlops!" The brown cyclops reappeared on the field. "And now, I draw. And I'll sacrifice my Opticlops to bring out Wattaildragon!" Opticlops shattered like glass, a large dragon made of electricity taking its place. "And now, Wattaildragon, destroy Irou!" A stream of yellow electricity was launched from Wattaildragon's tail.

"That activates _my_ Trap Card!" Curtis called. "Negate Attack!" The electricity dissipated. "Irou is safe for a little bit longer."

Kaiba grumbled. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

###################################

Julianne and Stephanie watched with Mokuba as the game continued. So far, Curtis had two samurai out, while Seto only had that one dragon. He did have that ugly cyclops creature, but it was gone now, replaced with the dragon.

"I have to admit, Curtis isn't doing too bad," Mokuba said. "Either he's just getting really lucky with his cards or Seto's going easy on him."

"So who's winning?" Julianne asked.

"Curtis, who still has all 8000 Life Points, while Seto is down to 5400," Mokuba answered. "But if I know my brother, that can all change real quick. He has a few cards that Curtis doesn't know about."

"What kind of cards?" Stephanie asked, now curious.

"Let's just say that they're part of the reason Seto is considered the world's greatest duelist," Mokuba replied.

#################################

Curtis looked at the Life Point counter on his duel disk. He still had all 8000 Life Points. How he had lasted this long he wasn't sure – maybe it was just pure dumb luck, or maybe Kaiba was letting him win. He didn't know, nor did he care – all that mattered was that he was still in this game.

He drew a card. _Shien's Squire? That's not going to do me any good._ "I pass my turn, Kaiba."

Kaiba grinned. "Wow. That is a rookie mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"My Wattaildragon has an attack power of 2500. None of your samurai come even close, and it's too late to put them in Defense Position, since you already ended your turn. So now, I draw." He pulled a card off the top of his deck. "I activate the Spell Card Shard of Greed! For every card I draw, I put one Greed Counter on this card until I have two, at which point, I can draw two cards. And now, Wattaildragon, destroy Irou! For real, this time! Electric Tail Shock!"

Irou was electrocuted, screaming in pain as his body was reduced to ash, and Curtis's Life Points dropped down to 7200. He was still in the lead by 1800 Life Points, but even watching Irou getting electrocuted like that was painful.

"Make your move, Curtis."

Curtis pulled a card. "I'm going to put my Grandmaster into Defense Position, then set one card face down." The Grandmaster knelt down, putting his arms up in front of his face, while another card materialized face down on the field. "That's all I'm doing."

Kaiba drew a card. "I'm going to tribute my Wattaildragoin to bring out my Tiger Dragon!" Wattaildragon disappeared as a large dragon with tiger stripes took its place. "And since I tributed a dragon to bring out Tiger Dragon, I use his effect to destroy your two face down cards." Tiger Dragon launched a stream of fire from its mouth, destroying Curtis's two face down cards. "If I were you, I would have played that Creature Swap Spell Card on my last turn."

"Yeah, kind of a dummy move in hindsight," Curtis agreed.

"Unfortunately, dummy moves can be the difference between victory and defeat," Kaiba told him. "Remember that. Tiger Dragon, destroy his Grandmaster of the Six Samurai!" The Grandmaster was enveloped in the fire, reducing him to nothing.

Curtis's Life Points remained the same, since the Grandmaster was in Defense Position.

Julianne couldn't help but gasp in shock as Curtis's samurai was roasted. "Oh my god!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Miller," Mokuba said. "Since he was defending, Curtis's Life Points are okay. He still has 7200."

"So he's still in the lead?" Stephanie asked.

"For the moment, yes."

Curtis drew a card. It was a Spell Card, The Six Samurai United. It wouldn't do much for him; he didn't have any Six Samurai cards in his hand. All he had was the Spell Card Different Dimension Reincarnation and two monsters – Great Shogun Shien and Shien's Squire. Now that he thought about it, alongside playing Creature Swap earlier, he could have sacrificed his two monsters to bring out his Great Shogun.

But it was too late for that, so all he could do was defend himself. "I set one monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

Kaiba drew a card. "That's two Greed Counters on Shard of Greed, so now I can draw two more cards." He picked up two extra cards. "I summon Chaos Necromancer in Attack Position." A rotting man in dark robes appeared. "He may not have any Attack Points by default, but that's where his special ability kicks in, because he gains 300 Attack Points for every monster in my Graveyard. The two monsters in there might only give him a total of 600 Attack Points, but it'll be more than enough, because my Tiger Dragon is going to destroy your defense monster!" The defense monster, Shien's Squire, was incinerated. "And now, Chaos Necromancer is going to attack you directly for 600 Life Points!"

Curtis felt the gross hands of the Chaos Necromancer reach into his chest as it attacked him, and his Life Points dropped to 6600. "Now I play the Spell Card Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Not again," Curtis moaned.

"Oh, so you know what this card does, do you?" Kaiba asked.

"Yugi used it on me yesterday," Curtis answered. "I can't do anything for three turns, and any monsters I summon have to be in Attack Position."

"That's right. But before it becomes your turn, I'll put one more face down for later. Now, make your move, whatever it might be."

Curtis picked up the top card of his deck – a Trap Card called Double Edged Sword Technique. _I can use this to bring back the Grandmaster of the Six and Irou, but since it's a Trap Card, I have to set it face down first._ "All I can do is put this one face down and pass the rest of my turn."

Kaiba drew a card. "I play the Spell Card Stamping Destruction! Since I control a dragon monster, I can destroy your face down card and deliver 500 points of damage to your Life Points." Curtis's face down card, Double Edged Sword Technique, was destroyed, and his Life Points dropped to 6100. "But that's not all."

"You're going to attack me directly, aren't you?" Curtis asked.

"Not quite."

Curtis just now noticed the malicious grin on Kaiba's face.

################################

Curtis was still in the lead by 700 Life Points, 6100 compared to Seto's 5400. Curtis couldn't do anything because of those shining swords, which Mokuba explained prevented Curtis from doing anything for three turns.

And Seto had the most malicious grin on his face; he was up to something.

"So what's going on now?" Stephanie asked.

"Judging from the way Seto's looking at his hand, he's about to do something that your brother isn't going to like," Mokuba commented. "Actually, I know he is. I've seen that look before."

The two monsters Kaiba controlled, that tiger-striped dragon and that disgusting looking man, faded away as Kaiba prepared to place another card on the field.

Even from up here, they heard him call: "I tribute my two monsters to bring out my greatest beast! Come forth, Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The most impressive, most imposing, most terrifying creature they had ever seen materialized where his two monsters used to be. It towered over the two duelists, its head nearly reaching the roof. The white scales on its body reflected the lights in the room; its long wings were nearly as long as the room itself. A powerful tail slapped at the floor, and the talons on its feet dug into the linoleum, leaving deep gashes.

The dragon roared at Curtis.

"What is that thing?" Stephanie asked.

"I don't know," Julianne answered, "but it's strangely…beautiful."

"It's also one of the deadliest monsters in the game," Mokuba explained. "Its Attack Points are 3000, and there aren't a whole lot of monsters that can stand up to it. Even Yugi Moto's Dark Magician has trouble with the Blue Eyes White Dragon."

#################################

Curtis fell to his knees in shock and terror. He had never seen anything so, so….So terrifying! This huge dragon – it was impressive, imposing even. It towered over him, making him feel so small, smaller than he'd ever felt before. The dragon's loud roar was deafening, and it shook him to the bone.

"Impressed?" Kaiba asked, almost in a mocking tone. "I knew you would be. Most people usually are. And good luck finding anything in your deck to beat it. My Blue Eyes White Dragon has an attack strength of 3000, making it one of the most powerful monsters in this entire game. But since one attack would end this too soon, I think I'll be a nice guy and end my turn here. Now get on your feet! A true duelist never lets his knees touch the floor!"

Curtis slowly climbed to his feet, never taking his eyes off of the imposing dragon standing before him. The dragon growled, almost as though it were laughing at him. He scanned his hand. All he had was Different Dimension Reincarnation, Great Shogun Shien, and Six Samurai United.

He picked up the top card of his deck, a Trap Card called Six Style Dual Wield. That wasn't going to help him at all, and even if he had drawn a monster he could summon, Swords of Revealing Light prevented that from happening for another two turns.

"All I can do is set one card face down," Curtis said. "Your dragon may as well end it now, Kaiba."

Kaiba drew a card. "Not my dragon," he said. "I summon La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in Attack Position!" A green genie materialized next to the dragon; it barely went up to the dragon's knees. "La Jinn, attack Curtis directly!"

Curtis cried out in pain as La Jinn's magical attack his him square in the chest, dropping his Life Points down to 4300.

"And now, it's your turn," Kaiba finished.

Curtis took a few seconds to catch his breath, trying to numb the pain in his chest. He drew a card. _Finally, something that can help me._ "Since I can't play in Defense Position because of your Swords of Revealing Light, I'll summon Chamberlain of the Six Samurai." A man wearing what looked like a fully cybernetic suit appeared on the field. "And then I'll play this Trap Card, Six Style Dual Wield. Since I control a Six Samurai monster, I can send two monsters you control back to your hand, and since you only have two, I'm going to put your dragon and your genie back."

Kaiba's scowl tightened as he removed his two monsters from the field. "You still can't attack."

"Maybe not, but it's a start."

Kaiba drew a card. "I play the Spell Card, Offerings to the Doomed! It lets me select and destroy one target at the cost of skipping my next draw phase, and since there's only one monster on the field, well, you can figure it out."

The Chamberlain of the Six Samurai was wrapped up in bandages, like a mummy, and a hand came up out of the floor, dragging it down.

"Great," Curtis growled. "Now I'm defenseless."

"Make your move."

Curtis picked up the top card of his deck, a Spell Card called Prohibition. "I play this Spell Card, Prohibition."

"Do you even know what that does?" Kaiba asked.

"I name one card name, and cards with that name and effect can't be used, and I name your Blue Eyes White Dragon." Kaiba growled. "And that ends my turn." The Swords of Revealing Light faded away.

"I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in Attack Mode, and he'll attack you directly!" Kaiba announced; he hadn't drawn a card thanks to the Spell Card he played earlier. The dog latched onto Curtis's leg, dropping his Life Points down to 2400. "Next I'll play this Spell Card, De-Spell! It lets me remove one Spell Card, which means your Prohibition is gone."

"Shit!"

"It's your turn."

Curtis drew from his deck. "I play the Spell Card Six Samurai United. Now whenever a Six Samurai card is summoned, I add one Bushido Counter to this card, until I have two, at which point –"

"At which point you can draw two cards, I get it. So who's the monster?"

"Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, in Attack Position!"

"You idiot, he's got less attack power than my Mad Dog," Kaiba said. "And even if he didn't, that activates my Trap Card, Trap Hole!" A large sinkhole appeared below Kizan, swallowing him. "So you know what, now all I'll do is draw a card, summon La Jinn, and end my turn there." La Jinn reappeared on the field, his green arms crossed.

Curtis drew a card, Dimensional Fissure. He couldn't do anything with that. "I can't do anything right now. Pass."

Kaiba drew a card. "You're going to regret that," he said, that grin from before on his face. "I tribute my two monsters to bring back my Blue Eyes White Dragon." The Blue Eyes White Dragon reappeared, its massive feet crushing the two monsters used as tributes to bring it out. "Then I'll summon the Lord of Dragons in Attack Position!" A man wearing a dark cape and dressed in armor made of dragon bones appeared next to the Blue Eyes White Dragon, appearing so small next to the massive beast. "But I'm not done yet. If you could barely stand up against one Blue Eyes, well….Prepare to meet your worst nightmare."

"What are you doing?" Curtis asked.

#################################

"What is he doing?" Stephanie asked Mokuba.

"Seto's been toying with Curtis this entire time," Mokuba explained. "He was just waiting to bring out his most powerful monster."

"What could be more powerful than that dragon?" Julianne asked.

"There are four Blue Eyes White Dragons in the entire world," Mokuba answered. "And Seto has three of them. Did Curtis tell you about Fusion Monsters?"

"I think he brought it up," Julianne said.

"Well, those three Blue Eyes White Dragons can be used as Fusion Materials for a more powerful dragon. Which I think Seto's about to bring out. Watch."

######################################

"I play the Flute of Summoning Dragon Spell Card!" Kaiba announced. A golden flute appeared in the Lord of Dragon's hand, and he blew on it. "This allows me to summon two more dragon monsters from my hand, and the two dragons I have are two more Blue Eyes White Dragons!"

"WHAT!" Curtis yelled.

Two more Blue Eyes White Dragons appeared; they were all so large that there was barely any room for them. One of the dragons nipped at the other in annoyance.

"But I'm not finished yet, Curtis Miller," Kaiba continued. "For now I play the Spell Card Polymerization to fuse them together into the ultimate dragon! And I'm not saying that for hyperbole, it's in the name. Go, my great beasts! Three become one!" The three dragons were enveloped in a bright light, their bodies merging together –

And when the light faded, in their place stood a massive dragon with three heads!

"Holy shit! What the hell is that?!" Curtis cried.

"Behold!" Kaiba announced. "The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" All three heads roared at Curtis. "Now, my Ultimate Dragon, hit him with your Nova Blast, and end this duel!"

All three mouths opened up, shooting out three streams of energy that hit Curtis straight on, reducing his Life Points to 0.

Curtis felt week, and he collapsed.

"That's all she wrote," Kaiba said.

The elevator doors opened, and Curtis's mother and sister rushed out, hurrying over to him. "Curtis!" His mother picked him up off the floor. "Are you okay?"

Curtis blinked and panted, trying to forget the pain of that last attack. "I'm fine, Mom," he said. He turned to Kaiba. "That was….That was so cool!"

The monster faded away as the duel disks were deactivated. "You really are a novice," Kaiba told Curtis. "But then again, so was I at one point. So you want my advice, kid? Get some better cards. Because you'll never win with a deck like that. Let me see it." Curtis handed Kaiba his deck. "Yeah, you won't be getting very far with a deck like this. You might want to look into getting a few more supporting Spell and Trap cards, and maybe a few Tuners and Synchro Monsters."

"Synchro what?" Curtis asked.

"Synchro Monsters," Kaiba answered. "It's another form of Fusion Summoning. Might want to look into it if you want any chance of beating even Joey Wheeler in a duel. What kind of Fusion Monsters do you have?"

"Just one XYZ monster, Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien."

"It's not enough. Tuners, Synchros, maybe another XYZ or two. Trust me, they'll help you out a lot."

Curtis took his deck back. "Thanks for the advice. I'll pick up a few when I can."

"You can't just pick up any monsters you like," Mokuba put in; he had joined them a little bit ago, just after Curtis's mother and sister. "You need to make sure that they're supported by the rest of the cards in your deck. You're using Six Samurai, right? Then try looking for Kagemusha of the Six Samurai as a Tuner, same with Shien's Squire."

"Shien's Squire? I have that guy."

"Then try looking for some Synchro monsters, like Legendary Six Samurai – Shien, or Six Samurai Gardna – Mamoru," Kaiba said.

"I'll keep an eye out. Thanks." He held out his hand. Kaiba accepted, shaking Curtis's hand. "And thanks for a fun duel. Maybe next time I'll be a little better at this game."

"I guess we'll find out."

####################################

Seto and Mokuba watched a replay of the duel with Curtis from earlier. Seto had to admit – even though Curtis was a novice, he showed some promise as a duelist. He knew from experience that even the best duelists started off as weak rookies with little to no knowledge of the game. He had been there once, a long time ago, but that was back when he was Mokuba's age. Of course, that was shortly after they'd been adopted by that monster Gozabura Kaiba.

"I guess he didn't do too bad for a beginner duelist," Mokuba said as they watched the footage again.

"Better than most rookies, that's for sure," Kaiba agreed. _Much better than Joey Wheeler at that time,_ he silently added.

There was something about Curtis that Kaiba found interesting. Maybe it was the fact that, despite being new to this game, he was aware of many of the mechanics. Maybe it was the way he was quick to learn from his mistakes. Maybe it was the fact that he was using a deck that had recently gone to the regional championships.

Whatever the reason, one thing was sure – this kid showed promise.


	7. Rebuilding the Deck

**REBUILDING THE DECK**

Curtis's mother and sister had gone home, leaving Curtis at Yugi's grandpa's shop per his request. He wanted to take Seto Kaiba's advice and rebuild his deck, add a few more cards to help strengthen it. Grandpa had set up a number of spells, traps, and monsters for Curtis to look through, hoping that at least a few of them would support his samurai.

Lightning Vortex and Raigeki were two Spell Cards that looked promising. Reading the description on the card, Curtis saw that they wiped the opponent's monsters from his side of the field. That would be a big help.

"Just so you know," Yugi said as Curtis added the two cards to his deck, "you're only allowed one copy of Raigeki in your deck if you're playing in an official tournament."

"Let me guess – like Pot of Greed, people had a tendency to spam it?" Curtis asked.

"Exactly." He reached into his deck box and pulled out a card. "Here. Take this Trap Card, too."

Curtis took the card from Yugi and read the name. "Call of the Haunted?"

"It lets you bring back one monster from your Graveyard as long as this card's on the field," Yugi explained.

"So it's like Monster Reborn," Curtis guessed.

"In a sense, only it takes a monster from your Graveyard and not your opponent's. But you said you're looking for Tuners and Synchros?"

"Yeah. I already have Shien's Squire, but I might need a few more."

"Well, you're in luck," Grandpa said. "I happen to have a few Tuners that would go perfectly with your Six Samurai deck." He pulled another box out from under the counter. "Kagemusha of the Six Samurai would work, and here are a couple of Synchro monsters – The Legendary Six Samurai Shien, and an XYZ monster, Blade Armor Ninja. Oh, and here, three Kagemushas and two more Shien's Squires."

"Thanks." He added the seven cards to his deck. "Anything else I might want to look for?"

"I don't have them here," Grandpa replied, "but you could try looking for a few more Synchros and XYZ, like Colossal Fighter or Wind-Up Zenmaines. Like I said, I don't have them here, so you may have to look for them in other stores."

"Okay, I will," Curtis said. He looked up at the nearby clock. "Wow, it's getting late. I'd better call my mom and have her come pick me up."

###############################

It was well into the night – almost midnight, judging by the time on the clock – but Curtis couldn't sleep. He was too busy thinking about his duel with Kaiba earlier today, and even if he weren't, he was going over his deck, trying to rebuild it using the cards he had gotten earlier. Kaiba was right; his deck was weak. His strongest monster was probably Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien, and Curtis had learned that the chances of XYZ summoning him were slim, depending on who he was dueling against.

With Call of the Haunted, Lightning Vortex, Raigeki, two more Shien's Squires, and three Kagebusha of the Six Samurai, that brought the number of cards in his deck to 61, one over the limit, if he remembered correctly. One had to come out, and since Yugi had told him that Raigeki was limited, he decided to remove that one. Besides, Lightning Vortex did the same thing.

He removed Raigeki and shuffled the deck. With the deck shuffled, he checked to see what the first five cards were.

The Cunning of the Six Samurai Spell Card.

The Return of the Six Samurai Trap Card.

The Six Samurai – Irou.

The Six Samurai – Nisashi.

Shien's Advisor.

Three monsters with relatively decent attack strength and possible material for an XYZ or Synchro Summon, though he was pretty sure it still wasn't enough. He still had yet to play a duel against Joey, and he wasn't sure if Tristan or Tea played, but if they did, he wouldn't have minded playing a game against them.

He looked at the clock. It was now past midnight, and when he looked at the calendar on the wall, his heart sank when he saw what the next day was. To anyone else, it looked like it was just another day of the week – another Sunday. But Curtis knew better. Tomorrow was the third anniversary of his father's death in the line of duty.

Curtis put the deck of cards on the night stand and turned off the light, wishing he was still able to visit his father's grave back home.


	8. Possession

**POSSESSION**

The Shadow Realm was not a pleasant place.

To the average person who found him or herself in this dark dimension, it was a punishment worse than death. The darkness ate away at the soul, and the monsters that inhabited the land preyed upon the bodies of the weak. And that was not taking into account the toll the Shadow Realm had on the mind – slowly ebbing away at the mind until there was nothing left but an empty shell of a human being, just waiting to be feasted on.

For the dark priest Heishin, it was a life he had known for the last three thousand years. The only reason his soul was still intact, the only reason his mind was still fully functional, was due to his sheer force of will, and the desire to live overcoming any darkness the Shadow Realm may threaten him with.

But there was more keeping his mind and soul alive than just his willpower. There was something else.

There was a desire for vengeance.

The young Pharaoh….He had thwarted his plans to reshape the world in his image. The young king had ruined everything the moment he shattered the Millennium Puzzle. Compounding matters was the fact that his body had been killed and his soul sent to the Shadow Realm as punishment for attempting a coup.

Three thousand years in darkness….It was enough to drive a man to madness, as Heishin had witnessed several times over the past several hundred centuries. How many souls were reduced to nothingness? He had lost track; there were so many.

Very rarely did anyone find a way to escape the Shadow Realm without outside help, but Heishin was well-versed in this world, having been here longer than anyone else and still survive. He had learned patience, and how to sense the presence of those with weak wills.

A presence he was now picking up. And this presence was strong.

This was his chance, his one chance to escape from this hell. All he had to do was concentrate and focus on that soul, and then it would be his to command and control.

##############################

Curtis felt sick. His chest was tight and his head was pounding. Maybe it was because he hadn't gotten enough sleep last night, or maybe it was because of something he ate yesterday, but either way, he couldn't shake this feeling. He put a hand on his forehead; he could feel just how hot it was under his hand.

 _Great,_ he thought. _Headache, stomachache, and fever. What else could go wrong?_

He felt his stomach rising into his throat. Placing a hand over his mouth, Curtis leaped out of bed and hurried down the hall to the bathroom. He lifted the toilet lid and leaned over –

Just in time to purge his insides.

Curtis took a deep breath as he flushed the disgusting contents down the drain. What was going on? How had he gotten like this? Why was he feeling so sick? He felt fine when he went to bed last night. It didn't make any sense.

He looked at himself in the mirror. His face was red and covered in sweat; his eyes were bloodshot; his lips were dry and chapped. He looked like he had gone for several days without sleep or anything to drink, and he felt just as bad.

"What's going on? This doesn't make any sense."

There was a knock on the door. "Curtis, are you done in there?" Stephanie asked through the door. "There are other people in the house, you know."

Curtis turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face. "I'll be right out, Steph." He wiped his face as he made his way to the door.

"Geez, you look like crap," Stephanie said when he opened the door. "Are you okay, Curtis?"

"I – I have no idea. I feel weird."

"Maybe you should go talk to Mom about it," Stephanie suggested as she stepped into the bathroom.

Curtis slowly made his way downstairs; he felt so off-balance. Every time he tried to walk, his legs wobbled beneath him, and he almost fell down the stairs because of that. He gripped the railing as tight as he could, trying not to fall.

He still ended up falling down the last two stairs, landing hard on the floor below.

"Curtis!" His mother hurried over to him from the kitchen table. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, Mom," Curtis answered softly; his speech was starting to slur now. "I don't feel so good."

His mother put a hand on his forehead. "Wow, you've got a nasty fever. Better get you back to bed."

Curtis wasn't so sure if that would help. His head felt like it was about to split open, and his chest was getting tighter with every breath he took. This wasn't any kind of sickness he'd ever had before; the only thing normal about it was the vomiting he did earlier.

He fell to his knees, clutching the sides of his head and screaming in agony.

"What's going on?"

Stephanie hurried down the stairs. "What's wrong with Curtis, Mom?" she asked.

"I don't know!"

It felt like something was moving inside of his head, trying to force its way out. His brain and skull felt like it was being compressed. His heart pounded in his chest. Curtis thought it was going to break out of his body. He clutched his chest, still groaning in pain. The pain was spreading through his body, becoming even more unbearable than it already was.

 _What's going on?_ he thought. _What's happening to me?_

And then he heard a voice. A deep, sinister voice.

 _"_ _Do not fight it, boy. You are my new vessel, and you will help me track down the Pharaoh and the Millennium Items."_

 _Who are you?_

 _"_ _My name is Heishin, and you, Curtis Miller….You belong to me now. Your mind, your body, your thoughts, your very being – they are MINE to command!"_

 _Get out of my head!_

Curtis climbed to his feet and stumbled up the stairs, hurrying to his room. He didn't know what was going on, didn't know who this Heishin guy was, and he wasn't sure how he was going to get him out of his head. But there had to be something he could do – anything!

He grabbed his phone and dialed the first number he found.

"Hello?" Yugi said on the other end of the line.

"Yugi, it's Curtis," Curtis said. "You've gotta get over here. There's something wrong with me. I don't know what, but maybe you can help."

"Wow, you don't sound so good. I'll be right over."

 _"_ _You think your little friend is going to help you?"_ Heishin mocked him. _"Amusing. I'd like to see how this plays out."_

"GET! OUT! OF! MY! HEAD!" Curtis yelled.

He couldn't control himself. He grabbed his duel disk and put it on his arm, then grabbed his deck.

 _"_ _Ah, I see,"_ Heishin said. _"They've managed to recreate the Shadow Games. That's very interesting."_

"SHUT UP!"

Someone knocked on the door. "Curtis, it's Mom. Your friend Yugi's here. Please open up and tell us what's going on."

"I don't know what's going on, Mom," Curtis called through the door. "I – I –" He fell to his knees, clutching his head and screaming in agony again.

The door swung open as his mother, sister, and Yugi stepped into the room. "Curtis?" Yugi asked. "Are you okay?"

Curtis stopped screaming. He lowered his hands to his sides and slowly stood up, keeping his head lowered so they couldn't see his face.

Slowly, he looked up at them. His eyes had changed – they were no longer red and bloodshot, but there was something else about them. Something different. Something….Something wrong. His mouth had twisted into a sinister grin, and instead of screaming in agony, he was now laughing, in a rather sinister way.

"Curtis?" his mother asked. "What's wrong, honey?"

Curtis spoke, but his voice sounded different. It sounded like someone else's voice was mixed in with his own, a deeper, more sinister voice.

"I'm free. The shackles of the Shadow Realm no longer contain me!"

"Mom, I think my brother's gone nuts," Stephanie said flatly.

"No, wait," Yugi cautioned. "This doesn't sound like someone going insane. This sounds more like possession."

"Possession?" Curtis's mother asked.

"I've seen this before," Yugi answered. He stepped forward. "Who are you? And why are you taking control of Curtis's body?"

Curtis turned to face Yugi. "You. You greatly resemble the Pharaoh. You must be a long distant reincarnation. What is your name, little boy?"

"My name is Yugi Moto, now answer my question!"

Curtis laughed – an evil, sinister laugh. "My name is Heishin, and three thousand years ago, I was a high priest to the Pharaoh." He glanced at the Millennium Puzzle hanging around Yugi's neck. "Ah, I see you've managed to find and rebuild the Millennium Puzzle. Impressive. Then that must mean that the Pharaoh's spirit is among us somewhere. Come out, Pharaoh. Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"What the hell is he going on about!" Stephanie yelled.

"Heishin, if you want the Pharaoh, you've got him," Yugi said as the Millennium Puzzle around his neck began to glow. That same glowing light surrounded Yugi, and when it faded….While he still somewhat looked like himself, he was much taller, more confident looking, and when he spoke, his voice was much deeper. "Heishin. I never thought I would ever hear your name again."

Curtis – or rather, Heishin – grinned. "Pharaoh. Been well? I should have known your spirit would sneak into the Millennium Puzzle that night when I killed you. Though I imagine the hundreds of centuries in pieces have taken their toll on your memories."

"Perhaps, but I would never be able to forget you," Yugi said.

"Will someone tell me what's going on!" Curtis's mother shouted.

"Your son has been possessed by the spirit of an evil priest from the days of ancient Egypt," Yugi explained. "He once sought the seven Millennium Items to bring Armageddon to the world so he could, in his words, rebuild it in his own image."

"What is a Millennium Item?" Stephanie asked, sounding more annoyed than confused.

"An item of immense power," Heishin answered. "There are seven in total, and the Pharaoh there is wearing the Millennium Puzzle. Confused, women? Then allow me to shed some light – it appears that in times of stress, little Yugi calls upon the spirit of the Pharaoh, who resides within the confines of the Millennium Puzzle, and has been living there for three thousand years. Oh, and did we forget to mention that the seven Millennium Items – the Puzzle, the Eye, the Rod, the Ring, the Necklace, the Scales, and the Key – were created by melting down the remains of 99 sacrificed villagers? Tradition says that a Millennium Item can only be passed from one owner to another if won in a duel, and so, Pharaoh, I challenge you. If you win, then I will free the boy and return the Shadow Realm with no fuss. But when you lose, I'll have that Puzzle."

"You're on, Heishin," the Pharaoh said. "Let's take this out back. And then, it's time to duel!"

#############################

Heishin and Pharaoh stood across from each other in the back yard. Their duel disks were active, their Life Points were set at 8000, and they each held five cards in their hands.

"You haven't played a Shadow Game since Egypt, have you?" Pharaoh asked. "Would you like some tips?" he added in a mocking tone.

"Keep your advice to yourself," Heishin said. He pointed to his head – to Curtis's head. "While I was in the process of taking this boy's body, I took the time to sort through his mind and learned all I need to know about this game you call 'Duel Monsters'. Now, I will give you the pleasure of making the first move in this game."

"As you wish, Heishin," Pharaoh said. He scanned the five cards in his hand – the Magical Hats Trap Card, the Ancient Rules Spell Card, the Lightforce Sword Trap Card, the Shard of Greed Spell Card, and Old Vindictive Magician. "I play the Spell Card Shard of Greed," he announced as he placed the card in the proper slot. "Every time I draw a card, I add a Greed Counter onto this card, until I have two, at which point I can then draw two more cards. And then I'll set one monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

"Defending? You were much more brash three thousand years ago," Heishin said as he drew a card. "Perhaps those three hundred decades matured you a little. I summon Shien's Daredevil in Attack Position." A tall samurai in red and silver armor appeared. "When he's summoned, he gains an extra 300 Attack Points, increasing his 1600 to 1900. Next I'll play the Spell Card The A. Forces, which gives all Warrior-type monsters I control an additional 200 for each Warrior or Spellcaster. Since I only control Shien's Daredevil, he gets the power boost, so his 1900 becomes 2100 Attack Points. Now, Shien's Daredevil, destroy whatever pitiful monster the Pharaoh is hiding."

Shien's Daredevil cut the large, hologram card in half.

"By revealing and destroying my Old Vindictive Magician, you activated his special effect," Pharaoh announced, "which allows me to destroy one face up monster you control. Since you only control one, Shien's Daredevil is going to the Graveyard as well." Shien let out a loud gasp before he shattered like glass.

Heishin growled. "I'll play the Spell Card Magical Mallet. This card lets me add as many cards from my hand to my deck, reshuffle, and pull out the same amount of cards I added, so I add all three." He added three cards to his deck, shuffled, then drew three new cards. "Now I'll play the Spell Card Six Samurai United, which adds a Bushido Counter for each Six Samurai monster summoned until it has two, and then I can draw two new cards. I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Pharaoh drew a card. "I set two cards face down. It's your move, Heishin." Heishin drew a card. "And now I activate my Trap Card, Lightforce Sword! This card lets me banish one card you control for four turns, and I choose the card on your far right." Heishin growled in annoyance as his Spirit of the Six Samurai was pierced with a dagger, rendering it useless for the time being.

"Fine then," Heishin hissed. "I summon The Six Samurai – Yariza, in Attack Position!" A samurai in green and brown armor, armed with an electronic spear, materialized. "Due to The A. Forces' effect, his 1000 Attack Points become 1200, I add one counter to Six Samurai United, and Yariza attacks you directly." Pharaoh grunted as the electronic spear hit him in the gut, dropping his Life Points to 6200. "I believe it is your turn."

Pharaoh drew a card. "That's two counters for my Shard of Greed, so I draw two more cards." He picked up two more cards as Shard of Greed was moved to the Graveyard. "I play Swords of Revealing Light to stop you from attacking for three turns." The gold swords appeared, surrounding Heishin's side of the field. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Heishin picked up the top card of his deck. "I summon The Six Samurai – Kageki, in Attack Position. Due to the effect of The A. Forces, his 200 Attack Points become 400, and since that makes two Bushido Counters on Six Samurai United, I draw two more cards. And I'll put the two that I just picked up face down and end my turn."

Pharaoh looked at the card he just picked up. "I set one card face down, and then summon Magician's Valkyria in Attack Position!" A beautiful woman in green and pink magician's robes appeared. "Magician's Valkyria, attack and destroy his Kageki!" Magician's Valkyria's staff powered up, and she launched a stream of magical energy at the four armed samurai.

"I think not," Heishin said. "I activate my Trap Card, Negate Attack, to stop your attack." The magical energy faded away.

Pharaoh grunted in annoyance. "I end my turn."

"And in two turns, I not only get my banished card back, but I can also continue my attack," Heishin announced as he drew a card. "Because I control two Six Samurai monsters, I can Special Summon this one from my hand without the need for a tribute. I summon Great Shogun Shien in Attack Position!" A tall man in blood-red samurai armor, armed with the sharpest sword they'd ever seen, materialized. "He has an attack strength of 2500, so your lovely magician stands no chance."

"Perhaps," Pharaoh said with a grin. "But it all depends on the luck of the draw." He drew a card as he spoke. "Magician's Valkyria, resume your attack on Kageki!"

This time, there was nothing to stop Magician's Valkyria's magic from causing Kageki to implode, dropping Heishin's Life Points to 6800. "I end my turn."

The swords faded away, the dagger was removed from Heishin's banished card, and he drew a card from the top of the deck. "I summon Spirit of the Six Samurai to use as an Effect Card on Great Shogun Shien. Due to The A. Forces' effect, he gained 200 Attack Points when I summoned him, but with Spirit of the Six Samurai, his 2700 now becomes 3200! More than enough to destroy your magician."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Heishin."

"Oh really? We shall see. Great Shogun Shien, skewer the bitch." Great Shogun Shien prepared to do as his master had commanded.

"If you want to destroy Magician's Valkyria, you'll have to find her first," Pharaoh said. "I activate my Trap Card, Magical Hats!" Four hats, each one emblazoned with a large question mark, appeared, one covering the female magician, and spread out across the field. "Happy hunting.

Heishin scanned the four hats. Magician's Valkyria was under one of them, and he was going to find out what. "Great Shogun Shien, attack the right most hat!" Great Shogun Shien cut the hat in half; it seemed empty.

"That hat may look empty, but it actually held a Spell Card," Pharaoh said. "Reload, which allows me to add my entire hand to my deck, reshuffle, then draw the same amount of cards." He added three cards to his deck, shuffled, and drew three more. "You have one more chance."

"Yariza, attack the left most hat!"

"That was an Equip Spell card, Mage Power," Pharaoh announced, "which I'm going to give to my Magician's Valkyria as I dispel my Magical Hats and add the extra card I had hidden to my Spell and Trap Zone." Magician's Valkyria reappeared, safe and sound, and her Attack Points went up from 1600 to 3100. "Now, Magician's Valkyria, attack and destroy Spirit of the Six Samurai!"

The extra armor Great Shogun Shien was wearing was shattered, dropping his attack power back down to 2700 and reducing Heishin's Life Points to 4400. "Next, I'll play one card face down, giving my magician a total of 3600 Attack Points. Your move."

Heishin grumbled as he drew a card; this duel was not going the way he had hoped. "I play a Spell Card, Creature Swap, to swap your magician with my Yariza." Magician's Valkyria and The Six Samurai – Yariza exchanged places on the field. "Magician's Valkyria, destroy Yariza!"

"Not so fast, Heishin," Pharaoh cautioned. "That activates my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder!" Two tubes appeared, one in each of Yariza's hands. "This card sends your attack back at you, and you take damage equal to the attacking monster's Attack Points. That means you're 4400 Life Points are now dropped to 800."

Heishin hissed in pain and rage as his Life Points dropped drastically. "I still have one monster I can attack you with. Great Shogun Shien, destroy Yariza!" Yariza was beheaded, and Pharaoh's Life Points dropped from 6200 to 3700. "Your move, Pharaoh."

Pharaoh drew a card. "I set a monster in Defense Position, then switch Magician's Valkyria to Defense Position, and end my turn."

Heishin looked at the card he just picked up. It was a Shien's Squire. He grinned. "I summon Shien's Squire in Attack Position!" A short man armed with a little spear appeared on the field.

"What can he do?" Pharaoh asked. "He only has an attack power of 300."

"Perhaps," Heishin grinned. "But when I combine him with the Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan in my hand, I can perform a Synchro Summon, and I'm going to do just that to bring out The Legendary Six Samurai – Shien!" The two monsters merged together, and in their place, stood a tall man in red and gold armor, with some of the armor on his back resembling wings, and armed with a long, curved sword. "And now, Shien is going to attack your Magician's Valkyria!" Shien slashed at Magician's Valkyria, slicing her across the chest. "And Great Shogun Shien will destroy your face down monster." Great Shogun Shien cut the face down card in half, destroying what looked like a large, robotic turtle.

"That was my Electromagnetic Turtle," Pharaoh gasped.

"Your move, Pharaoh."

Pharaoh drew a card. "I play the Spell Card, Ancient Rules," he announced, revealing one of his face down cards. "This card allows me to Special Summon a Level Five or higher monster from my hand, and the one I choose is…DARK MAGICIAN!" A tall man in dark robes and armed with a long scepter appeared. He crossed his arms and stared at Heishin.

There was something…familiar…about that look.

Heishin laughed. "I see that after all these years, Mahad is still at your side. But he's still not powerful enough to destroy any of my monsters. They both have 2700 Attack Points thanks to The A. Forces, while your Dark Magician only has 2500."

"That may be true, but it can all change with one play," Pharaoh said. "And that play is – I activate Horn of the Unicorn to increase my Magician's power from 2500 to 3200!"

"And I activate The Legendary Six Samurai – Shien's special ability," Heishin announced.

"Special ability?" the Pharaoh repeated.

"Whenever you activate a Spell Card, Shien can negate and destroy that Spell Card, so your magician doesn't get the power boost."

"Oh no!"

"That's right, Pharaoh."

"But instead of being sent to the Graveyard, Horn of the Unicorn returns to the top of my deck."

"The result is the same. Make your move or end your turn."

Pharaoh revealed another face down card. "I activate the Trap Card, Magician's Defense! Since my Dark Magician is a Spellcaster, any damage I take from your attacks is cut in half. And when this card is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one Spellcaster from my Graveyard to the field. Your move."

Heishin drew a Trap Card, Magical Arm Shield. "Great Shogun Shien, attack and destroy Dark Magician!" Dark Magician was cut down, and Pharaoh's Life Points dropped to 3600 – it would have been 3500, if not for that Trap Card. "Now, The Legendary Six Samurai – Shien! Attack the Pharaoh directly!"

"Not with this Trap Card he won't," Pharaoh said. "Counter Gate! It negates your attack and lets me draw one card. We both know what it is, but if it were a monster, I would be able to summon it. But since it's now my turn, I draw again." He picked up a card. "And I set the monster I just drew in Defense Position. Your move."

Heishin drew the Spell Card Dark Hole. He didn't want to play it, since it destroyed all monsters on the field, his included, but he still had Shien's Footsoldier to summon and attack the Pharaoh directly.

 _"_ _A difficult decision, wouldn't you say, Curtis?"_

 _STOP IT!_

 _"_ _Of course, I'm aware that you have a Trap Card called Call of the Haunted, so I could always bring one of my monsters back."_

 _They're not YOUR monsters, you bastard!_

"I play the Spell Card Dark Hole to send all monsters on the field to the Graveyard!" Heishin announced. A black hole appeared above the field, sucking up Heishin's two samurai and the Pharaoh's defense monster – Apple Magician Girl. "I set one card face down, then summon Shien's Footsoldier in Attack Mode to attack you directly for 500 Life Points!" Shien's Footsoldier prepared to stab Pharaoh in the side with its spear.

"See, that would work," Pharaoh said, "if not for my Electromagnetic Turtle's special effect. Once he's in the Graveyard, I can banish him to negate any attack, so my Life Points are safe."

For the moment, Pharaoh, for the moment.

Pharaoh drew a card and looked at his hand. He currently held Dark Magician Girl, Horn of the Unicorn, and another Dark Magician.

 _These three cards could be helpful,_ Yugi said in his mind, _but without monsters to tribute or some card effect to bring them out, we can't use them._

 _"_ _Perhaps,"_ Pharaoh said _. "But remember, Yugi – we have faith on our side."_

 _You're right. As long as we believe in ourselves and trust in the Heart of the Cards, we can free Curtis. But it looks like that might have to wait until next turn._

"Your move, Heishin. There's nothing I can do," Pharaoh said.

Heishin drew a new monster card – Elder of the Six Samurai. "I summon the monster I just drew, Elder of the Six Samurai." An old man in what looked like some sort of autonomous wagon appeared next to Shien's Footsoldier. "Thanks to The A. Forces, my monsters have an attack power of 900 and 600 respectively, so they're going to attack you directly for a total of 1500 Life Points." Pharaoh winced as two simultaneous attacks hit, a spear and some sort of energy orb, and his Life Points dropped to 2100. "Your move."

Pharaoh picked up the top card from his deck. "I pass another turn."

"And you were playing so strongly earlier, Pharaoh," Heishin taunted as he drew a card. "I set a card face down and attack you directly again!" Pharaoh's Life Points dropped to 600. "One more move, and I win not only this game, but also your puzzle."

 _No_ , Yugi said. _That's not going to happen._

 _"_ _You're right, Yugi,"_ Pharaoh agreed. He reached out for his deck. _"Heart of the Cards, Guide me."_ He looked at the card he just drew –

And grinned.

"I just drew the card that's going to win back Curtis's freedom!" he announced. "First, I'll play this Spell Card, Black Magic Ritual!" A circular shrine appeared in the middle of the field, the ring in the center surrounded by strange runic symbols. The two torches on either side of the ring were alight with black flame. "Next, I'll use the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl in my hand as tributes to bring out the ultimate master of the dark arts!" Another Dark Magician and what looked like a girl in blue and pink wizard's robes fell into the ring. Black fire erupted from the ring, and when it faded away –

A tall, thin man in tight black and purple leather, armed with a scepter, was standing in their place, his arms crossed, his serious eyes set on Heishin.

"I have Ritual Summoned the Magician of Black Chaos!" Pharaoh cried. "But I'm not done yet. I'll equip him with Horn of the Unicorn, increasing his Attack Power from 2800 to 3500, more than enough to destroy your monsters and your Life Points!"

"Not with this Trap Card, Magical Arm Shield."

Pharaoh grinned. Magician of Black Chaos wagged a finger back and forth. "I'm afraid that won't work. You see, that particular Trap Card only works if I have more than one monster on my side of the field, and since I don't, my attack can continue unabated. Magician of Black Chaos, destroy the Elder of the Six Samurai and win this duel and Curtis's freedom!"

The Elder of the Six Samurai was enveloped in black magical energy, pushing against him until he imploded, and Heishin's Life Points dropped to 0.

"No!" Heishin yelled. "I was not supposed to lose!"

"It looks like you chose the wrong body to possess, Heishin," Pharaoh said as the monsters faded from the field. "Now, uphold your end of the bargain and give Curtis back his freedom!"

 _Do what he says, please!_ Curtis begged. _You promised!_

Heishin glared at the Pharaoh –

Before standing, turning on his heels, and running as fast as he could.

"Heishin!" Pharaoh called after him.

It was too late.

Heishin was gone, and he had taken Curtis's body with him.


	9. Lord of the Ring

**LORD OF THE RING**

Heishin couldn't give this boy's body back, no matter what he had said earlier. It was his only chance for freedom. For three thousand years all he had known was darkness; now he was in the realm of light, and this boy's body was the perfect vessel.

Now if only Curtis would stop making such a racket in his own mind.

 _You lost!_ Curtis cried. _You lost the duel! You promised you'd release me if you lost, remember? Why didn't you keep your end of the bargain?_

 _"_ _You couldn't possibly begin to understand the hell I have been living in through the last three thousand years,"_ Heishin answered. _"You spend three millennia in the Shadow Realm and you too would take the first opportunity you found to escape. Your mind and soul were weak for a brief moment. That was my chance."_

 _I don't get it. Why me, exactly, out of the seven billion people in the world? You could have picked anyone. Why did you single me out?_

 _"_ _Sometimes you have to take the first opportunity that presents itself. And I know why your mind was so weak. You were in mourning, weren't you?"_

 _What?_

 _"_ _You were thinking of your dearly departed father at the time, weren't you? Oh yes. Poor Father, killed defending the peace."_

 _DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY FATHER, YOU PIECE OF –_

He stopped running when someone stepped out of a nearby alley. The body was that of a boy about the same age as Curtis, but with a look of pure evil on his face. Around his neck was a Millennium Item, the Millennium Ring, which was glowing, the pyramid within the large ring giving off a brilliant light.

"My Millennium Ring led me to a dark presence," the boy said, his voice deep and gruff.

 _Bakura, is that you?_ Curtis asked from within his own mind.

"Bakura, was it?" Heishin asked, his voice coming out of Curtis's mouth. "No, wait. You are the spirit of the Millennium Ring, possessing the body of this boy, am I right? You are just like the Pharaoh. "

"And just like you, High Priest Heishin," Bakura said grimly. "Tell me, how did you escape from the Shadow Realm? The last time I checked, your soul had been banished to that dark realm when your head was separated from your body."

"As you can see, I found a way. And now that I am once again given life – of a sort – I'm continuing my search for the Millennium Items. I was unable to win the Millennium Puzzle from the Pharaoh in a duel earlier, but perhaps I'll have better luck winning your Millennium Ring."

"You'll have the devil's task doing so," Bakura said, revealing a duel disk attached to his arm. A deck of cards was inserted into the slot. "I assume you're aware of the traditional rules."

Heishin activated the duel disk; Bakura activated his. Their Life Points were set to 8000, and they drew five cards.

"Your Millennium Ring will look much better around _my_ neck," Heishin said smugly.

 _Bakura, help!_ Curtis cried, even though Bakura couldn't hear him. _You gotta get this guy out of my head! Please!_

 _"_ _Quiet, boy!"_

He scanned the five cards in his hand – Hand of the Six Samurai, the Cunning of the Six Samurai Spell Card, the Return of the Six Samurai Trap Card, The Six Samurai – Irou, and The Six Samurai – Nisashi. Not a bad opening hand, though it could have been better. On the plus side, there were two Level Four monsters in his hand, so he could XYZ summon Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien when he was ready.

And he was ready now. "I will make the first move, by summoning The Six Samurai – Irou, and using him and The Six Samurai – Nisashi in my hand as XYZ material for Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien." Shien materialized between the two duelists, his sword resting on his shoulder.

"An impressive opening maneuver," Bakura said as he drew a card. He hated what he saw – the only card he could summon was a Level Four Light Fairy monster called Hecatrice. Why did he even have Light Monsters in this deck? It was supposed to be built out of Dark monsters; having Light monsters made no sense. But then again, the Spirit of the Ring didn't build this deck, the true Bakura did. "I set one monster in Defense Position, then set one card face down. Your move."

Heishin drew a card. "I summon Hand of the Six Samurai in Attack Position." A woman in purple and yellow robes, armed with a small dagger, appeared. "And she is going to destroy your face down monster." Hand of the Six Samurai stabbed the face down card, revealing what looked like a golden angel. "A Fairy monster? Interesting."

Bakura growled as he moved his card to the Graveyard. "Would you believe me if I said that this was not my idea?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?" Heishin asked in return.

Bakura drew a card. "I summon Summoner Monk in Attack Position." A man in old priests' robes appeared. "When I summon him, he goes immediately into Defense Position, and I can use his special ability – by discarding one Spell Card, I can Special Summon one Level Four monster from my deck." He dropped a Spell Card into his Graveyard. "And the monster I summon is the Dark Grepher!" A tall man, dressed in bulky black armor, armed with a broken sword, materialized. "He's more powerful than your Hand of the Six Samurai, and now that he's attacking –" Hand of the Six Samurai was skewered – "you lose 100 Life Points."

Heishin's Life Points dropped to 7900 as he moved Hand of the Six Samurai to the Graveyard. "That was barely a scratch on my Life Points," he said as he drew a card. "I play the Spell Card Dimensional Fissure." A dark void appeared underneath the field. "And now, whenever a monster would be sent to the Graveyard, it gets banished instead. And now, Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien, will attack and destroy your Dark Grepher!" Bakura's Life Points dropped to 7200 as Dark Grepher was bisected. "I set two more cards face down and end my turn."

Bakura picked up a card. He scowled. The card he drew was useless to him. There was only one useful card in his hand. "I sacrifice my Summoner Monk to Special Summon the Darklord Amdusc in Attack Position!" A dark purple alicorn appeared on the field, its massive wings splayed out impressively. It bucked and whinnied as it materialized.

Heishin laughed as he drew a card. "Your little pony is still much weaker than my Shadow of the Six Samurai," he said. "I summon Shien's Advisor in Attack Position." An old man in gray and red robes appeared on the field. "Shien's Advisor has a special ability – I can name a monster type when he's summoned, and the type I name can neither attack nor be Special Summoned, and the type I name is Dark Fairies!"

Bakura scowled. _Damn him. Most of my monsters are Dark Fairies. Curse the kind and sweethearted Bakura for building such a pathetic deck._

"Shadow of the Six Samurai attacks and destroys your Darklord Amdusc," Heishin continued, and the alicorn was disemboweled; Bakura's Life Points dropped to 6500. "And Shien's Advisor will attack you directly." Bakura winced as Shien's Advisor stabbed him, dropping his Life Points even further; he now had only 5300 Life Points left. "Next, I'll play the Spell Card The Warrior Returning Alive to add Hand of the Six Samurai back to my hand from the Graveyard. And it is now your move."

Bakura picked up a new card and growled in frustration. The only monster he held was a Level Eleven monster, Darklord Morningstar, and he couldn't bring it out without sacrificing three monsters, and even if he had three monsters, Shien's Advisor prevented him from summoning any and all Dark Fairies, which his deck was mostly made out of.

The only other cards in his hand were three Spell Cards – Sacred Sword of Seven Stars, Reasoning, and Burial From a Different Dimenion – and one Trap Card – Darklord Descent.

"I have no choice but to pass my turn," he announced angrily.

Heishin laughed as he picked up the top card of his deck. "I summon Hand of the Six Samurai in Attack Position, and he attacks you directly!" Bakura's Life Points dropped to 3700 as Hand of the Six Samurai stabbed him in the gut. "Next, Shien's Advisor attacks you directly as well." Shien's Advisor stabbed Bakura in the heart, dropping his Life Points to 2500. "And Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien attacks you for 2500 and ends this duel!" Bakura was slashed across the chest, he was knocked back, and his Life Points dropped to 0.

The monsters faded from the field as the duel disks were deactivated. Heishin walked over to Bakura's inert form, his eyes focused on the shiny gold Millennium Ring around his neck.

"I have won the duel," he said. "And according to the ancient scriptures, I have also won your Millennium Ring." He reached out for the Millennium Item.

The Millennium Ring glowed as Heishin's hand neared it. "What?" He stepped back; this was not something he had ever seen before. What was happening? Was the Ring repelling him, even though he legitimately won the duel?

Bakura's eyes opened, and he stood up. "It seems that my Millennium Ring doesn't want to leave my side," he said.

"Impossible. It is an object; it has no will of its own."

"That is where you are wrong, Heishin. Three thousand years in the Shadow Realm must have destroyed more of your mind than you originally thought. The Millennium Ring always returns to its host, no matter where in the world they may be, or in whose hands the Ring my be. The Ring belongs to Bakura, and Bakura belongs to me. But this boy – he does not belong to you." The Ring glowed brighter. "Ring, sever the ties that bind this boy!"

"No!"

Curtis's body fell to his knees, clutching his head as Heishin screamed. "No! I will not be suppressed! No!"

His voice slowly became replaced with Curtis's voice. Slowly, Curtis looked up at Bakura, who was still looking down at him with that evil look on his face. Bakura couldn't have known, but in his mind, Curtis saw and heard everything. He knew what Bakura had done, knew that he had tried to free him from Heishin's hold.

"And so you're free," Bakura said. "If only for a little while."

"A little while?" Curtis repeated as he slowly climbed to his feet. "You mean, he'll take over again?"

"Not right away, no. His spirit is too weak from being in the Shadow Realm for the last three millennia to attempt another possession at the moment; he will have to gather his strength, and you will have to find a way to get him out of your head. My Millennium Ring may have severed the ties holding him to you, but only for a little while." He turned and started walking away. "Good luck."

"Bakura, wait! Who are you? Really?"

"Let's just say I'm someone well versed in the Millennium Items and shadow magic."

Curtis held his head; it was pounding. If Bakura was right, he only had a little bit of time before Heishin came back. He needed to find a way to get him out, for good.

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and a second later, the rain was falling.


	10. Shadows of the Past

**SHADOWS OF THE PAST**

The rain continued to fall; it had started falling harder in the last few minutes. Curtis had taken cover under an old overpass, hiding behind the pillars, watching the rain fall. He held his legs close to his chest, wondering just how things had gone so crazy in the last twenty-four hours. This time yesterday he was having a duel with the world's greatest duelist, and now he was trying to think of a way to keep the spirit of an evil ancient Egyptian priest from taking control of his mind again. But the question was: How? Bakura refused to say anything – then again, that could have been the spirit of the Millennium Ring just being a jerk; Curtis had seen that while Heishin was in control – and he wasn't sure if he should go back to Yugi. Maybe Seto, if he was in a good mood.

The rain making him feel even more depressed wasn't helping. And besides, the rain was making it cold.

Curtis shivered, trying to stay warm. There had to be something he could do to help him. But what?

His phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. It was his mother. He answered.

"Hello?"

"Curtis! Oh my god, are you okay?" his mother asked, sounding hysterical.

"I don't know, Mom. He got quiet earlier after a duel with Bakura, but it's only a matter of time before he possesses me again. I have to figure out how to get him out of my head."

"Yugi thinks he may have an answer for that if you want to talk to him."

"Sure, put him on."

A second later, Yugi's voice – the real Yugi's voice – came through the phone. "Curtis? It's me, Yugi. I was talking to the Pharaoh earlier, and he might be able to help you, but you have to let him. Where are you now? We can come meet you?"

"I don't know, Yugi; I'm under a bridge somewhere. I think Heishin dueled the spirit of Bakura's Millennium Ring on….I don't know, 12 Street. I think I'm about half a mile from there, I don't really know."

"I know where you are," Yugi said. "You're close to the Domino Museum; we'll meet you there."

Curtis turned the phone off. Domino Museum….Maybe there was something there that could help him figure this out. Maybe the Pharaoh had the answers; he would have to make sure to ask him when they met.

Still, it was hard to believe that Yugi really did have the spirit of an Egyptian Pharaoh living in his Millennium Puzzle, and the same could be said about Bakura, though Curtis knew from what he had seen earlier that that particular spirit wasn't exactly friendly.

Slowly, he stood up and began to make his way down the slope.

############################

The warm air of the museum dried his soaking wet clothes and hair quickly enough, but it still wasn't enough to lift Curtis's spirits. It didn't help that he didn't see Yugi or anyone else he knew. He pretended to be one of the patrons, going through the exhibits, glancing at the displays, wondering just where Yugi was. Part of him wanted to call, but he knew that Yugi would be here eventually; rather than pester him, maybe it was better just to wait.

He stopped in front of a glass display case showing the worn diary of a Civil War soldier.

 _Yeah, I doubt Private Clayton Patterson ever went to Egypt._

He stepped away from the display, and when he did, he spotted a sign pointing to the Egyptian Exhibit.

 _Finally, something possibly helpful._

He followed the sign into the wing. He saw all the usual things he would have expected – mummies, sarcophagi, stone tablets with hieroglyphics engraved into them, statues of Anubis – at least, he thought it was Anubis; Curtis wasn't well versed in his Egyptian lore – and an artist's rendition of Cleopatra.

 _"_ _Bringing my world to you so you can visit whenever you wish,"_ Heishin said inside his mind. _"Interesting."_

 _Oh. You're back. Why couldn't the spirit of the Ring have just gotten rid of you for good?_

 _"_ _Foolish boy. The Ring's spirit may be versed in shadow magic, but not as much as I am. Otherwise I would not be a high priest."_

 _You're an asshole._

Heishin laughed. _"A so-called "modern" insult. Amusing. Now, if you would be so kind as to turn your attention to the large stone tablet on your left."_

 _Why should I?_ Curtis snapped.

He got his answer when he turned and looked. It was a large stone tablet hanging on the wall via a glass display. Carved into the rock were several hieroglyphics, some of which were outlines with squares. The top of the tablet was weathered away, leaving nothing but brown stone. In the center of the tablet were two figures, facing each other. The figures looked familiar. Curtis moved closer, hoping to get a better look at the figures.

The figures resembled Yugi and Kaiba! And directly above them were the Dark Magician and Blue Eyes White Dragon respectively.

"What the – what the hell is this?"

"That may hold the clue to the answers you seek," a woman's voice replied.

Curtis turned around, startled, to find a tall, beautiful woman with tan skin and wearing a long white dress approaching him. Her long black hair was tied into tails framing her face with several golden rings. The wide collar of her dress showed her bare shoulders, and around her neck was a golden necklace with the same eye symbol as the Millennium Puzzle and the Millennium Ring.

This woman….She had a Millennium Item!

"Curtis Miller, am I correct?" the woman asked.

"Y – yeah, but how'd you –?"

"My name is Ishizu Ishtar, the curator of this exhibit," the woman answered. "And I knew you were coming because my Millennium Necklace showed me. It also showed me that there is something inside you."

"That's putting it mildly," Curtis answered. "Please tell me your Millennium Necklace can get him out of my head."

Ishizu sadly shook her head. "My Millennium Necklace can only show visions of the past and the future. I'm afraid it doesn't have the ability to remove evil spirits."

"Great. The Millennium Ring could only suppress him, and he's trying to come back."

"If what the Necklace has shown me is true, you're referring to High Priest Heishin, am I right?"

"That's what he said his name was, yes." He turned back to the tablet. "So you said this rock has the answers I'm looking for? All I see are a couple of guys who look like Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba playing an old game of Duel Monsters."

"You're not far off," Ishizu said as she joined him. "This tablet shows a battle between the Pharaoh and the sorcerer who betrayed him."

"Wait a minute, I thought Heishin led the coup."

"He did. His most loyal follower was a sorcerer named Seto."

"Seto? As in, Seto Kaiba?" He looked at the carving of the Pharaoh. "And the Pharaoh looks like Yugi – or at least the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle."

"That's because the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle is this Pharaoh," Ishizu replied. "Over time, Heishin's role in the coup was lost to history, so all the stories only told of Priest Seto. Either way, the result of the story is the same, with the Pharaoh's soul becoming locked within the confines of the Millennium Puzzle for three thousand years."

"So same story, but different versions."

"And both are true."

"But that doesn't really help me in my situation. How do I get Heishin out of my head?"

"Heishin was a dark priest, and as such, he has access to the powers of the dark realm known as the Shadow Realm."

"I know I heard someone mention that earlier."

"In life, Heishin could utilize the dark powers granted to him to control those he wished, so long as they had a weak mind and soul. My Millennium Necklace shows me that he used those powers to take you this morning during a time of emotional weakness."

Curtis turned away from Ishizu. "It must have been while I was thinking about my father. Today marks three years since he was killed."

"And that was the moment Heishin took control." She turned back to the tablet; Curtis followed her gaze. "Look at the top of the tablet, near where the hieroglyphs have been weathered away. Do you see those carvings?"

"You mean the man, dragon, and the chicken?"

"Those carvings represent the three most powerful monsters in all of Egypt and Duel Monsters – the Egyptian Gods: Obelisk the Tormentor, the Sky Dragon of Osiris, and the Winged Dragon of Ra."

"Don't tell me I have to look for these guys," Curtis moaned.

"That won't be necessary," Ishizu answered. "The Egyptian God Cards are already in the possession of someone you know – Yugi Moto. If Heishin were to duel Yugi, and Yugi were to use the Gods, then their combined power will be enough to free you from Heishin's possession."

"Wouldn't that mean that Heishin would already have to be in control by then? Because I don't feel like letting him play with my body while my mind is sitting on the sidelines." He held his head; it was starting to hurt again. "He's already trying to take hold again. I'm trying to hold him back, but I don't know how long I can. I don't know anything about this shadow magic you brought up earlier." He grunted. "No. You're not taking me. You're not taking me again!" He shook his head. "I don't know how long I can fight him back. I hope Yugi can help; he told me to meet him here."

"And he has just arrived, along with your mother and sister," Ishizu announced.

Not ten seconds later, the three of them arrived. "Curtis!" His mother hurried over to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hut. "Thank god! I was so worried."

"So just what the heck was that all about back home?" Stephanie asked. "You were acting, well, not like yourself."

"We're not out of this yet," Curtis answered. He turned to Yugi. "You said the Pharaoh may be able to help?"

Yugi nodded his head. "He doesn't remember a whole lot from back then, but he does remember Heishin."

Stephanie glanced at the tablet. "So is anyone else going to point out Yugi and Kaiba drawn on that rock over there?"

"There's a reason for that, but it's a long story," Curtis replied. "All right, Yugi, bring out the Pharaoh, because Heishin's gonna come back for his encore performance sooner or later."

The Millennium Puzzle glowed, and a second later, the Pharaoh was standing in Yugi's place.

"Heishin, the dark priest. I know that name all too well, though I'm sure you know that already, given what happened at your home earlier," he said.

Curtis just stared at him for a few seconds. "It's one thing to see it through Heishin's eyes, but another thing entirely to see it through my own." He shook his head. "Before you get into your history and hopefully helping me get him out of my head, I have another question." He pointed to the carvings of the Egyptian Gods. "Ishizu said that you have those three cards and they can be used to expel him?"

"How can flimsy cards get rid of an evil ghost?" Stephanie asked.

"Obelisk the Tormentor, the Sky Dragon of Osiris, and the Winged Dragon of Ra are not mere cards, Stephanie," Pharaoh answered. "They are the most powerful cards in all of Duel Monsters, and they are the names of the three Egyptian gods who once nearly brought the world to its knees three thousand years ago."

"It was the Pharaoh's predecessor who sealed the gods away so their power could not be used," Ishizu added. "He also sealed away the powers of the Shadow Games, but there were some like Heishin who still wished to use those dark powers to take the world for their own."

"I thought he was just after these things called Millennium Items," Julianne questioned.

"True," Pharaoh said. "But with the Egyptian Gods, plus the powers of the Millennium Items, Heishin would be unstoppable."

"And all because he has a grudge against you," Stephanie said.

Curtis looked from Pharaoh to the stone tablet. There was so much he didn't understand. Just who was the Pharaoh? What was his deal with Heishin? How did all of this tie in to a children's card game? So many things he didn't know, so many questions he wanted answered, and yet, it seemed like the closer he got to an answer, the more questions he had. And there was a chance that those questions would not be answered, at least not right away.

Few things were adding up. Few things were making sense. Few questions were being answered. Curtis was both confused and frustrated. It didn't help that he was still fighting Heishin as all these thoughts went through his head. But if what Ishizu said was true – and judging from this tablet, it was – all of this had something to do with those Shadow Games played back in ancient Egypt three thousand years ago.

He looked at the duel disk strapped to his arm. Duel Monsters, the Pharaoh, Heishin, the Millennium Items….They were all connected somehow.

But there was one more question nagging at him.

"Pharaoh," he said quietly. "Ishizu said that you have to beat Heishin in a duel to free me, and you have to use the Egyptian God Cards to do that. But if you do, what will happen to me? Will I really be free? What happens to people when they're freed from possession?"

"I can't say for certain," Pharaoh answered. "Ishizu? What does your Necklace tell you?"

"Curtis will be freed once Heishin has been expelled with the Egyptian God Cards," Ishizu replied.

"But what about my brother?" Stephanie asked. She put her arm around Curtis's shoulder; that was something she had rarely done since he was really young – it showed that she was truly worried about him. "Will he be okay when, you know, he's free?"

Ishizu nodded her head. "He will live, yes, and he will recover."

Curtis suddenly cried out in pain. He fell to his knees, clutching his head. "He's coming back! I can't hold him back anymore!" He screamed in agony.

"Curtis!" Pharaoh cried.

"Heishin's regaining control," Ishizu pointed out.

"Pharaoh, Ishizu, do something!" Julianne cried.

"Too late," Heishin's voice came out of Curtis's mouth. "I have returned."


	11. Heishin vs Joey Wheeler

**HEISHIN VS. JOEY WHEELER**

The rain had let up by the time Heishin stepped outside. He would have loved to stay and duel the Pharaoh for the Millennium Puzzle again, but he had other matters to attend to: Someone owed him a Millennium Ring, and he was not going to be denied. All he had to do was find Bakura and take the ring from him.

He walked down the stairs, pushing his way past the other patrons, not caring who was in his way. He only stopped when he heard the Pharaoh call his name.

"Heishin!" He turned to see the Pharaoh coming down the stairs, the three women not far behind. "We're not finished yet."

"Too true, Pharaoh," Heishin agreed. "But I must depart for the time being. I have a Millennium Ring to find."

"That's not going to happen," Pharaoh said as he activated his duel disk.

Heishin chuckled. "As much as I would love to duel you again, there is already one Millennium Item with my name on it. If you'll excuse me, I need to find where Bakura went."

"Bakura ain't your concern, pal."

Heishin rolled his eyes as he turned around, coming face to face with Tristan Taylor and Joey Wheeler, the latter of whom had a duel disk attached to his arm; the disk was activated, and a deck of cards was in the deck slot.

"I don't recall seeing the two of you arrive," Heishin said.

"Yugi called them on the way here," Pharaoh explained. "He thought we could use some help expelling you."

"And we would have been here sooner had we not gotten stuck in traffic," Tristan said. "So, who's the ghost that needs to be exorcised?"

"My name is Heishin. Remember it when I send you both to the Shadow Realm."

"Yeah, that ain't gonna happen, pal," Joey sneered. "You wanna do that so badly? Then you'll have to beat me in a duel. But if I win, you leave Curtis's body and go back to wherever it is you came from. _Capishe_?"

 _He won't hold up his end of the bargain, Joey!_ Curtis cried, even though he knew Heishin was the only one who could hear him.

Heishin scowled. "Dueling you would only impede my quest of finding the Millennium Ring."

"You can forget about Bakura for a few minutes," Joey said. "Now nut up, shut up, and pick up your cards, because it's time to duel!"

Heishin rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "It seems I have no other options." He activated his duel disk.

A crowd began to gather. Heishin ignored the chatter of the spectators as he and Joey set their Life Points to 8000 and drew five cards each. This boy was yet another distraction he didn't need; he would make sure that, upon winning, he would show the boy the true meaning of hell as his mind was banished to the Shadow Realm. After his victory with Bakura, he was feeling more confident, even if the cards Curtis had selected for his deck weren't exactly the most powerful.

"I'll kick things off," Joey announced, "by summoning Little Winguard in Attack Position." A short knight in blue armor, armed with a sword and a shield, with a blue cape flowing behind him, appeared. "Then I'll set a card face down. Your go."

Heisin picked up a card as he studied Joey's monster. "1400 Attack Points? Not bad. I play the Spell Card Reinforcements of the Army to add one Warrior Type monster from my deck to my hand." He searched his deck until he found the right card; reshuffled; replaced the deck. "And now I'll summon the card I just drew – The Six Samurai, Zanji, in Attack Position!" A samurai armed with a pike and wearing fiery red armor appeared on the field. "Next, I'll set three cards face down, and Zanji will attack and destroy your Little Winguard." Little Winguard was impaled on the pike, and Joey's Life Points dropped to 7600.

"Alright, so you drew first blood, big deal," Joey said as he drew a card. He grinned. "I'll save that for later. Right now, I set a monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

Heishin picked up a card. It was the Spell Card, Creature Swap. That could come in handy later. But he also had two more monsters in his hand – The Immortal Bushi and Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, the latter of whom required one tribute in order to summon. He checked his three face down cards, all Trap Cards – Double Edged Sword Technique, Reckless Greed, and Shien's Scheme. Of those three, only one could be useful right now.

"I play the Trap Card, Reckless Greed," he announced. "This card lets me draw two cards, though I skip my next two Draw Phases." He picked up two cards, The Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, and Shien's Squire. He grinned; Shien's Squire would prove very useful. "I summon Shien's Squire in Attack Position." A short man armed with a spear and carrying a flag on his back appeared next to Zanji.

"That dude looks like a monkey," Tristan said.

"And now, since Shien's Squire is what you call a Tuner, I use him and The Six Samurai – Zanji, as materials to Synchro Summon The Legendary Six Samurai – Shien!" Shien appeared on the field, his long sword gleaming in the dim sunlight. "Now, Shien, dispatch his defending monster." Joey's face down monster was cut in half.

"My Hayabusa Kngight!" Joey growled. "Well, at least my Life Points are safe."

"I put one card face down and end my turn."

"Come on, Lady Luck, work with me here," Joey prayed as he drew a card. He glowered at his card. "I'll set another monster in Defense Position, then put a card face down and end my turn."

Heishin looked at the cards in his hand. "I summon The Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, in Attack Position!" Kizan appeared next to Shien. The two samurai gave each other a nod. "Kizan, attack and destroy his face down monster!"

Joey cheered as his face down monster, a grotesque-looking insect, was cut in half. "Ha! Sucker!"

"What?"

"The monster you just destroyed was called Parasite Paracide," Joey explained. "Now that he's destroyed, he infects your deck, and all your monsters become Insect Types. It's disgusting, I know, but that's what you get for attacking a nasty bug."

Heishin growled as his two monsters began to groan in pain; tendrils and insect-like feelers grew out of their bodies, replacing their arms and covering their heads.

"Oh my god, that _is_ disgusting!" Stephanie cried.

Heishin glared at Joey. "My monsters can still attack, and so Shien, cut down his Life Points!" Joey screamed in pain as Shien slashed him across the chest, dropping his Life Points to 5100. "I believe it's your move."

"Hang in there, Joey!" Tristan cheered for his friend. "You can take these ninjas!"

"They're samurai, Tristan," Joey snarked as he pulled the top card off of his deck. He just drew Jinzo. It was a powerful monster and could negate the activation of Trap Cards, but as a Level Six monster with 2400 Attack Points, he needed a sacrifice to summon him, and with no monsters on the field….

 _Wait a minute,_ he thought. _I can use Graverobber to take his Reckless Greed from his Graveyard. That might help me. But I still have to play a monster. Well, guess we'll see what we get._ "I activate my face down Trap Card, Graverobber! This card lets me search your Graveyard for one card, and I choose your Reckless Greed. Now I draw two cards. Sure, it means I gotta skip my next two Draw Phases, but it's a start." He picked up the two cards. 'I'm gonna use Monster Reborn to bring back Zanji on my side of the field." Zanji materialized in front of Joey, staring down Heishin's two other Samurai. "Next, I'll summon Panther Warrior in Attack Mode." A bipedal panther dressed in ornamental armor and armed with a curved sword appeared next to Zanji. "Panther Warrior can't attack unless I sacrifice a monster, so I'll sacrifice your Zanji to attack your Kizan." Zanji disappeared, and Panther Warrior lunged, and Kizan was beheaded.

"By destroying my monster, you activate my Trap Card," Heishin announced.

"Say what?"

"Shien's Scheme! When a Six Samurai monster I control is destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon up to two Six Samurai monsters from my hand, and the one I choose is Grandmaster of the Six Samurai." The Grandmaster appeared next to Shien as Heishin placed the card on the field.

"Okay, fine," Joey grumbled. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Heishin picked up a card, now that the effects of Reckless Greed had worn off. It was Great Shogun Shien. He didn't want to sacrifice the two monsters he had on the field to summon it, but perhaps there was something in his Graveyard he could use. "I play another face down card, Double Edged Sword Technique. This card allows me to bring back two Six Samurai monsters from my Graveyard until the end of my turn, where they're destroyed and I take damage equal to their Attack Points, but they won't be staying until the end of my turn. The monsters I choose are The Six Samurai – Zanji, and The Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan. And now, I use those two as tributes to bring out Great Shogun Shien!" Shien appeared on the field between the Legendary Shien and the Grandmaster. "And now, Grandmaster, skin that cat." The Grandmaster of the Six Samurai raised its sword as it charged for Panther Warrior.

"Not so fast, buckaroo," Joey sneered. "That activates _my_ Trap Card, Magical Arm Shield!"

"What? What is that?"

"Hush your yap for a minute and I'll tell you. This card lets me take one of your attacks and send it right back at one of your other monsters. So Grandmaster, go ahead and attack that Shogun."

"You fool!" Heishin yelled as the arms that materialized turned the Grandmaster until he was facing and charging for Great Shogun Shien. "The Grandmaster has 2100 Attack Points, 400 less than Great Shogun Shien!"

"Yeah, I know," Joey replied. "That means that your Grandmaster is destroyed –" Grandmaster of the Six Samurai was skewered by Great Shogun Shien's sword – "and you're out 400 Life Points." Heishin's Life Points dropped to 7600.

"I'm not finished yet, and that card is only good one time," Heishin said. "Great Shogun Shien, destroy that cat!" Panther Warrior was bisected down the middle, and Joey's Life Points dropped to 4600. "And now, The Legendary Six Samurai Shien, attack him directly!" Legendary Six Samurai Shien slashed Joey across the chest again, dropping his Life Points to 2100.

"This doesn't look good for Joey," Julianne pointed out. "One more hit like that and he'll lose."

"Joey!" Pharaoh called. "Remember – let the Heart of the Cards guide you."

Joey nodded. "You got it, pal." He put his fingers on top of his deck and closed his eyes. "Come on," he pleaded.

He drew a card. "I play the Spell Card I just drew, Scapegoat!" Four colorful goats appeared in front of Joey, forming a protective line.

"You're planning to attack me with goats?" Heishin laughed.

"Not attack, just stall," Joey answered. "And I only need to stall for one turn, because I'm going to sacrifice two of my Scapegoats to bring out my trump card – Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

The jet black dragon that materialized wasn't as large as the Blue Eyes White Dragon, but it was just as imposing. Its wings flared, spreading out across a length of nearly fifty feet. Its beaked mouth, filled with teeth sharp as knifes, opened up in a loud screech. Its long tail slapped at the ground, and its talons dug into the concrete. The dragon's blood red eyes were focused on Heishin.

 _I didn't know Joey had that kind of card in his deck,_ Curtis moaned.

Heishin grinned. "Interesting. But it's still weaker than both of my monsters by 100 Attack Points."

"Maybe," Joey said. "But not when I play this Trap Card, Metalmorph!" The Red Eyes Black Dragon became encased in dark metal armor. "When Metal Morph is equipped, my dragon's attack points go up to 2800, more than enough to defeat your monsters. Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon, take out Great Shogun Shien! Oh, and another thing I should point out," Joey continued as the dragon opened its mouth, "is that when a monster equipped with Metalmorph attacks, it gains half of its victims Attack Points, so my Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon's Attack Points go up to 4050!"

Great Shogun Shien was struck with the fireball from the Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon, incinerating it and dropping Heishin's Life Points to 6050. "Of course, that's only when I'm attacking. For now, set two cards face down and end my turn."

Heishin drew a card, glaring at the Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon the whole time he did. The Legendary Six Samurai – Shien tightened the grip on his sword as the two monsters stared each other down.

The card Heishin drew was a Spell Card, Dark Hole. It destroyed all monsters on the field. He didn't want to play it – he didn't want to get rid of his Legendary Six Samurai – but that dragon was a menace.

It was worth it.

"I play the Spell Card Dark Hole!"

"Nuh-uh," Joey said as he revealed his face down card – a Trap Card. "Not with Magic Jammer you won't. It stops you from activating a Spell Card this turn, so you just wasted one Dark Hole."

"Damn you," Heishin hissed as he put his Spell Card in the Graveyard. "But that card only works once, correct?"

"Yeah, once per turn. So?"

"So I have another Spell Card to play, Creature Swap!"

"WHAT!"

"Our monsters trade places, and Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon attacks and destroys Shien!"

Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon's Attack Points went back up to 4050 as it launched its attack.

"Activate Trap!" Joey cried. "Negate Attack!"

"You little bastard," Heishin cursed as the fireball dissipated. "I end my turn."

The two monsters returned to their proper positions as Joey drew another card. He looked at Heishin's monster, which still had those insect-like tendrils sticking out of its body. His eyes glanced back to the card he just drew, the Time Wizard. He also had the Baby Dragon in his hand, but there was still Jinzo. Either one would be a good choice – he could summon Baby Dragon, then play Time Wizard to use its Time Roulette to make a thousand years go by – assuming the needle didn't land on a skull and reduce Joey's Life Points by the total of his monsters' Life Points, which would put him at 0 and make him lose by default.

That wasn't a risk he was willing to take.

"I sacrifice one of my goats to summon Jinzo to the field!" A tall, skinless man in green robes with blue goggles over his eyes appeared. "With Jinzo on the field, you can't use any Trap Cards."

"Perhaps, but he still can't stand up to my samurai."

"I put another card face down, and Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon attacks your samurai!" Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon prepared to attack, its Attack Points going up to 4050, and it launched a fireball at Shien, who was vaporized on contact. Heishin's Life Points dropped to 4500. "Now, Jinzo attacks you directly!" Heishin was hit by a blast of psychic energy from Jinzo, and his Life Points fell even further, to 2100.

He and Joey were now tied.

"Way to go, Joey!" Tristan cheered. "Great comeback!"

"Thanks, Tristan." He turned to Heishin. "Hey, Curtis! I don't know if you can hear me in there, but we're gonna get that creep outta your head. Just hang in there a little bit longer pal, okay?"

 _You can do it, Joey_ , Curtis said from inside his mind.

Heishin drew a card. Now that two of his most powerful monsters were gone, there wasn't much he could do to protect his Life Points or bring those beasts down. "I set a monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

Joey drew a card, a wide grin on his face. "Oh, this one's in the bag. Jinzo, take out his defense monster, would you?" The large hologram of Heishn's face down monster was vaporized. "And Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon, end it!"

Heishin howled in agony as the flames hit him, and his Life Points dropped to 0. "No!" he cried as he fell to his knees.

"Look, dude," Joey said as the monsters faded away. "If it's any consolation, you put up one hell of a fight. I thought I was a goner there for a minute."

Heishin looked up at him. "I will not release the boy until I have the Millennium Items."

Tristan joined Joey as the two of them stood over Heishin. "You made a deal, didn't you? You'd free Curtis if you lost. So do it." He cracked his knuckles. "Or do I have to beat you out of him?"

"You would be doing the boy more harm than me."

"I'm sure Curtis would understand," Joey said as he grabbed Heishin by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. "So there you are, pal – we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Julianne, Stephanie, and the Pharaoh joined them. "Joey, don't hurt him!" Julianne cried. "Curtis, can you hear me? Please, answer me!"

Heishin turned to face her, but said nothing. He could feel Curtis trying to edge his way back to the forefront of his mind, felt the boy trying to regain control. He couldn't let that happen, not until he had the Millennium Items and the Pharaoh was groveling at his feet. But these fools kept getting in his way, and this boy's deck was pitifully constructed; he kept losing these duels against him. The only victory he had so far was against the spirit of the Millennium Ring, and he was nowhere to be seen in this crowd.

"Curtis, say something," Stephanie pleaded.

Heishin pulled away from Joey's grip. "Curtis can't hear you anymore."

"That's it," Joey said, and his fist connected, knocking Heishin to the ground. "Get out of his body! Get out of his head, you creep!" He punched Heishin again.

"Joey, this isn't helping!" Pharaoh yelled. Joey looked at him, confused. "Ishizu said the only way to free Curtis was for me to beat Heishn in a duel. It's time for you to lose to me a second time!"

Heishin slowly climbed to his feet and wiped some blood from his lip. "Me? Lose again? I think not." He glanced to the side as a long black limousine pulled up. "That is the longest horseless chariot I've seen. In fact, I haven't had a chance to say this, but your entire world has been quite…intriguing. These duel disks, bringing the Shadow Games to life once again; chariots that do not need a horse to be pulled; towers of glass and iron. Perhaps, when the world is finally mine, I will keep these inventions." He saw someone climb out of the limousine – Seto Kaiba, his little brother Mokuba following shortly after. "Seto Kaiba, I presume? What brings you here?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "What's your problem? You sound different. And how can you not know me? We just met yesterday." He looked over to Joey. "Maybe hanging out with Joey here is making you forget already."

"You wish it were that simple, rich boy," Joey snapped.

"Kaiba," Pharaoh said, "Curtis has been taken over by the spirit of an Egyptian priest named Heishin. He's looking for the Millennium Items so he can take over the world."

"Oh, this old line of crap again," Seto moaned.

"So quick to disbelieve, Seto Kaiba," Heishin chuckled. "But the Pharaoh speaks the truth. This boy's body is mine, and soon, so too shall the Millennium Items. And then you will call me Lord."

Mokuba was quick to speak up. "I think Yugi might be telling the truth, Seto."

"Sounds more like Curtis Miller has taken up ventriloquism," Seto replied snidely.

"You still refuse to believe what you see, what you hear?" Heishin asked. "Then perhaps this will convince you. I may not be as powerful as I was three thousand years ago, but even in this boy's body, I can still channel some of my powers." He raised his arms.

"What's going on?" Tristan asked.

"Watch closely, everyone," Heishin announced. "Because I am going to send us all to the Shadow Realm."


	12. To the Shadow Realm

**TO THE SHADOW REALM**

There was a dark cloud surrounding the museum by the time Tea Gardner arrived. She would have been here sooner had she not been held up by that wreck – someone had hydroplaned and slammed into an oncoming car. She had wanted to help Yugi and everyone else find a way to help Curtis – from what Yugi said, he had been taken over by an evil spirit from the Pharaoh's past – but now it looked like she was too late. She had seen that kind of dark cloud before, and it never meant anything good.

She brought her car to a stop and climbed out, ignoring the police officer telling her to stop. Running as fast as she could, she pushed her way through the dark cloud, ignoring the pain shooting through her body as she passed from one dimension into another.

"Sorry I'm late," she announced.

"About time you got here, Tea," Joey said. "Things are starting to get ugly."

"What's going on?" she asked. "Why are we in the Shadow Realm?"

"Because of him," Tristan said, pointing to Curtis. "Heishin did it."

"Heishin?"

"The name of the spirit who's taken Curtis's body," Yugi – or rather, the Pharaoh – answered. "He took Curtis this morning. We've been trying to get him out." He stepped forward. "And there's only one solution. Heishin!" He readied his duel disk. "Since you've brought us to the Shadow Realm, then you must be ready for a Shadow Game."

Stephane moved closer to her mother, hugging her arm. "Mom? What's going on?"

"I don't know, sweetie. Just stay close to me, okay?"

"Yes. Hold your loved ones, because it may be the last chance you ever have," Heishin said. "We are in the Shadow Realm, a dark dimension where no light can penetrate." Dark figures began to move all around them. Stephanie screamed as one brushed a hand through her hair. "This place was my hell for three thousand years. And when I win this duel against the Pharaoh, it will be all any of you know!" He readied his duel disk.

"You will be the one going back to the Shadow Realm, Heishin," Pharaoh said, "because Curtis is coming home with us." He drew five cards and set his Life Points to 8000. "It's time to duel!"

"I will begin," Heishin announced. He scanned the five cards in his hand. He held a Spell Card, Different Dimension Reincarnation, and four monsters: The Six Samurai – Yaichi; Shien's Advisor; Spirit of the Six Samurai; and Hand of the Six Samurai. "I summon Hand of the Six Samurai in Attack Position, then use the monster Spirit of the Six Samurai as an Equip Spell, increasing Hand's 1600 Attack Points to 2100. Your move, Pharaoh."

Pharaoh drew his sixth card. "I Summon Red Gadget in Attack Position." A red robot with a large silver gear attached to its back appeared. "His special ability allows me to search my deck for his brother, Yellow Gadget!" He searched his deck until he found the proper card; reshuffled. "Now I'll use the Yellow Gadget I just drew as XYZ material with my Red Gadget to XYZ summon the Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf!" The two robots fused together in a beam of light – or as much as this dark realm allowed – and when the light faded, a large black train with a wolf's head attached was in their place. "Ironwolf has 2200 Attack Points, more than enough to destroy your Hand of the Six Samurai!" Ironwolf's head bit down on Hand of the Six Samurai, destroying it and reducing Heishin's Life Points down to 7900. "It's your move."

"An impressive beginning, but this is ONLY the beginning," Heishin said as he drew a new card. "I set one card face down then summon Shien's Advisor in Attack Position."

"Attack Position?" Pharaoh repeated. "He only has 1200 Attack Points."

"Perhaps, but he has a special ability. I can name one monster type, and that type can no longer attack or be Special Summoned, and the type I name is machines. That means that your Ironwolf is now a piece of metal. A brick, if you will. With that said, I end my turn here."

Kaiba crossed his arms. "I bet I know what he's planning," he mused.

"What's that?" Stephanie asked.

"That face down card must be a Trap Card," Kaiba guessed. "Heishin's baiting Yugi into attacking him so he can activate it."

"But he just said that Yugi's monster can't attack," Mokuba protested.

"That train can't," Joey said. "Doesn't mean that Yugi's other monsters can't."

"Oh wow, Joey Wheeler's using that brain of his," Kaiba teased.

"You wanna repeat that, rich boy?"

"Boys!" Julianne yelled. "You can save your bickering for later. Saving Curtis is more important."

"And at the moment," Ishizu said; she had been quiet the entire time, only watching as the events unfolded, "the only one who can do that – the only one who will do that – is the Pharaoh."

Pharaoh drew a new card. "I sacrifice my Ironwolf to summon Summoned Skull in Attack Position!" The train faded away, and in its place stood a tall, grotesque, skeletal creature with purple wings. It stared down at Shien's Advisor, growling and flexing its claw like fingers, moving the muscles showing between its bones. "And I'll equip him with the Horn of the Unicorn, increasing his Attack Points from 2500 to 3200. Summoned Skull, attack and destroy Shien's Advisor!"

"You have activated my Trap Card," Heishin said as he flipped the card over. "Shattered Axe. It's a continuous Trap Card, and for each of my Standby Phases, one monster you control – in this case, the only monster you control – loses 500 Attack Points."

"My Summoned Skull is still more powerful than your samurai," Pharaoh pointed out. "Summoned Skull – use your Lightning Strike!"

Summoned Skull was enveloped in yellow electricity. The electricity arced up over its head and struck Shien's Advisor, electrocuting him and reducing Heishin's Life Points to 5900.

"Your move."

"You will pay for that, Pharaoh," Heishin said as he drew a card. Summoned Skull's Attack Points dropped to 2700 thanks to the effects of Shattered Axe. The card he drew was The Six Samurai – Nisashi, a Level Four monster with an attack power of 1400. He growled as he set that card face down on the field. "I set a monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

Pharaoh picked up a new card. "Summoned Skull, destroy his face down monster!"

The electricity from Summoned Skull's attack destroyed Nisashi, sending the card to the Graveyard.

Heishin picked up a card. "My move." Summoned Skull dropped to 2200 Attack Points. "I discard one card from my hand –" He dropped Different Dimension Reincarnation into the Graveyard – "to activate the Spell Card Lightning Vortex, to destroy your Summoned Skull!" Summoned Skull screeched as lightning rained down from the sky, obliterating it. "And now I summon The Six Samurai – Yaichi to attack you directly!" Pharaoh was shot in the shoulder by Yaichi's arrow, reducing his Life Points to 6700. "It's your move, Pharaoh."

Pharaoh drew a card; he now held six. "I play the Spell Card Polymerization to fuse the Dark Magician and Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, in my hand into the Amulet Dragon!" A large, blue dragon appeared, the Dark Magician riding on its back. "It has an Attack Strength of 2900, more than enough to destroy your Samurai. Amulet Dragon, attack!" The dragon opened its mouth, shooting out a stream of white energy while the Dark Magician on its back fired a burst of magical energy, both hitting and destroying Yaichi and dropping Heishin's Life Points to 4300. "And I end my turn."

Heishni growled; the card he drew was a Trap Card. Unless Pharaoh summoned another monster on his turn, Magical Arm Shield would be of no help. But it was worth a chance. "I set a card face down and end my turn."

Pharaoh drew a card. His eyes grew wide with surprise.

 _Wow,_ Yugi breathed. _We drew the Sky Dragon of Osiris!_

 _"_ _Yes,"_ Pharaoh agreed. _"But without three monsters to sacrifice, we can't summon it."_

 _We can quickly get those three monsters. We just have to summon one._

 _"_ _But what if Heishin's face down card is a Trap Card?_

 _It's a chance we'll have to take._

Pharaoh looked at the cards in his hand. _"If only we could summon another monster. The only other monster we have is Valkyrion the Magnet Warrior, and even if we had enough monsters on the field to tribute, we haven't played Alpha, Beta, or Gamma yet."_

 _Then we pass and see what he does._

"I end my turn without playing a card," Pharaoh announced.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Heishin said as he picked up a new card. "I too end my turn without playing a card."

 _Sucks, doesn't it?_ Curtis taunted him. _You're not getting the cards you need. Yugi's going to kick your ass, and I'm going to be free._

 _"_ _Silence, boy, or I will leave your mind in the Shadow Realm to rot!"_

Pharaoh added a new card to his hand. "Pass."

Heishin drew another card. "Pass."

"What's going on?" Tristan asked. "They're just drawing cards."

"Maybe they're not getting the cards they need?" Julianne guessed.

"That's what I'm thinking," Mokuba agreed. "Even if you're a great duelist like Seto or Yugi, it all comes down to the luck of the draw."

"Luck and skill are all there are to Duel Monsters," Seto added. "None of this Heart of the Cards bull Yugi keeps spouting on about."

Pharaoh drew a new card. "I summon Queen's Knight in Attack Position." A woman in rose-red armor, armed with a sharp sword, appeared. "Queen's Knight, attack Heishin's Life Points directly!" Queen's Knight charged.

"I activate Magical Arm Shield," Heishin announced. The arms grabbed Queen's Knight, turning her around to face the Amulet Dragon. "And I send your Queen's Knight's attack at your Amulet Dragon."

"Oh no."

Queen's Knight's sword struck Amulet Dragon's scales, shattering upon impact. Amulet Dragon stepped on her, crushing her and reducing Pharaoh's Life Points to 5300.

Pharaoh grunted in frustration. "I end my turn, Heishin."

"He could have attacked again," Stephanie said. "Why didn't he?"

"He's waiting for something," Joey answered. "If I know my pal Yugi, he's waiting for the right moment to unleash his secret weapon."

"The Egyptian God Cards," Seto finished.

"Hey, I was getting to that."

Heishin picked up a new card. He grinned. "I summon Future Samurai in Attack Position and use her special ability to banish one monster from my Graveyard to destroy one monster you control."

"What?"

"I use Future Samurai's special ability to remove Yaichi from play to destroy your Amulet Dragon!" Amulet Dragon roared as it faded away. "And now, Future Samurai can attack you directly." Future Samurai slashed Pharaoh across the chest, dropping his Life Points to 3700.

Pharaoh drew a new card. "I set a monster in Defense Position, then set two cards face down and end my turn."

Heishin drew a card. "I set one card face down, then attack your defense monster." The face down card was pierced, revealing an elegant, blue skinned, beautiful woman in a long green dress, and Heishin's Life Points dropped to 3900. "Damn."

"Too bad, you attacked my Mystical Elf while she was in Defense Position," Pharaoh taunted as he drew a new card. "I play Emblem of the Dragon Destroyer to add Buster Blader from my deck to my hand." He searched until he found the right card. "And I will end my turn there."

Heishin stared at Pharaoh as he drew a new card; just what was he up to? "Your move."

Pharaoh picked up a new card. "I summon King's Knight in Attack Position." A tall man in gold armor appeared next to the Mystical Elf. "Make your move."

"I play the card I just drew, Shien's Smoke Signal, to add one Level Three or lower Six Samurai monster from my hand to my deck." He searched until he found the card he wanted. "And the card I choose is Shien's Squire, so I can use him and my Future Samurai to –"

"Not so fast," Pharaoh cautioned. "I activate my Trap Card Chain Destruction to destroy the Shien's Squire in your hand and all Shien's Squires in your deck."

"No!"

"You won't be Synchro Summoning your Legendary Six Samurai – Shien for a while now," Pharaoh taunted as he drew a new card. "I discard Valkyrion the Magnet Warrior from my hand to Special Summon The Tricky." The Tricky appeared next to the Mystical Elf. "Now, The Tricky, attack and destroy his Future Samurai." Future Samurai had a hole punched through her chest, and Heishn's Life Points dropped to 3500. "Your move."

Heishin picked up a card, glaring at the three monsters on Pharaoh's side of the field. "I set one monster in Defense Position, then play the Spell Card Prohibition. I name one monster's name, and you can no longer use that monster so long as this card is in play. I'm not sure how many of those Mystical Elves you have, but you will no longer be able to use them. Your move."

Pharaoh grinned as he drew a card. "That's fine," he said. "Because I sacrifice the three monsters on my field." King's Knight, Mystical Elf, and The Tricky faded away. Darker clouds formed overhead; thunder rumbled and lightning struck. "And their sacrifice allows me to bring out the almighty SKY DRAGON OF OSIRIS!"

"WHAT!"

Something long and red began to descend from the sky. It was massive, larger than anything anyone had ever seen. Its long body was red and black in color, with four long legs ending in sharp talons and four wings keeping it aloft. The dragon was so long that they couldn't see where it ended. Its large mouth, filled with nearly a hundred serrated teeth, opened as it roared. There was a second mouth on the top of its head, just in front of the blue jewel. Even in this darkness, its blood red scales shone brightly as it hovered above them, glaring down at them with yellow eyes.

Seto looked up at the dragon with admiration and respect.

Mokuba, Tea, Tristan, and Joey were in awe.

Julianne and Stephanie were screaming.

Heishin was staring up at the Sky Dragon of Osiris with reverence, fear, and awe.

 _What the hell is that?_ Curtis cried.

"Impossible," Heishin breathed. "Osiris?"

"And his special ability allows him to gain 1000 Attack Points for every card I have in my hand, and his second mouth depletes any monster you summon in Attack Position by 2000 Attack Points. Because of his first effect, he now has 4000 Attack Points. Sky Dragon of Osiris, destroy his face down card!"

That stream of fire was so hot that Heishin felt like his skin was about to be burned off. His defense monster, Shien's Footsoldier, never stood a chance.

"Make your move, Heishin."

Heishin glared at Osiris as he drew his card.

"I can't believe how strong that thing is," Julianne breathed.

"Oh, Osiris has the potential to be the most powerful of the Egyptian God Cards," Seto explained. "Right next to the Winged Dragon of Ra."

Heishin looked at the card he just drew; a Spell Card, Reinforcements of the Army. "I play the Spell Card, Reinforcements of the Army, to search my deck for a Level Four or lower monster to add to my hand." He searched his deck. "And I summon the monster I just found, The Six Samurai – Zanji, in Attack Position!"

 ** _BOOM!_** A burst of flame from Osiris's second mouth – the one above his main mouth – hit Zanji, obliterating him.

"Your Zanji had less than 2000 Attack Points," Pharaoh pointed out. "Therefore, he couldn't withstand that blast."

Heishin growled in frustration. "Damn you, Osiris! Damn you to the deepest pits of hell!" The dragon growled at him.

"I would choose my next words very carefully, Heishin," Pharaoh cautioned. "It's unwise to anger a god. My move." He drew a card, and Osiris's attack power went up to 5000. "Heishin, it's time you were expelled from Curtis's body. Sky Dragon of Osiris, attack Heishin directly, free Curtis, and end this duel!"

Heishin was unable to defend himself from the blast. He felt like his very skin was on fire as his Life Points dropped to 0. He screamed in agony, as did Curtis, as the pain of the flames coursed through his body.

 _Now's my chance!_ Curtis cried, and he slowly began to retake control of his mind, pushing Heishin out. _You! Don't! Belong! Here! Get! Out! Of! My! HEAD!_

Osiris's attack stopped, and Curtis's body collapsed to the ground.


	13. Heart of the Cards

**HEART OF THE CARDS**

Curtis's mother held him in her arms. His eyes were closed, and she couldn't tell if he was breathing. Stephanie, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Mokuba, and the Pharaoh joined her as she gently shook her son, trying to wake him up.

"Curtis. Curtis, please, wake up. Please."

"Come on, little brother," Stephanie pleaded. "Open your eyes."

Slowly, Curtis's eyelids fluttered open. He groaned and held his head; it hurt so much. He hadn't felt pain like this since that time he broke his leg when he was nine years old.

"Please tell me you're you," Joey pleaded.

Curtis blinked a few more times as his mother sat him up. "I – I – I can't hear him anymore. I think he's gone." He looked over to the Pharaoh. "You did it, Pharaoh. You got rid of him."

"I got him out of your body and mind," Pharaoh corrected him. "Look around you. We're still in the Shadow Realm. This isn't over yet."

"Hey guys," Tristan called. "Was that ghostly looking guy always there?"

The transparent figure slowly came into view, becoming more clear for them to see. He was tall, taller than even Seto; his shoulders were broad and muscular. The man's dark hair was messy and unkempt, and he was staring at them all with deep set eyes.

"That is Heishin," Ishizu said. "In his true form."

"I have been denied once again," Heishin growled. "I am growing tired of this."

"Oh, grow up," Kaiba snapped. "I've lost to Yugi every time I've dueled him minus that time he surrendered, and you don't hear me complaining about it. So how about you do us all a favor and turn off your little light show so we can all get back to our lives."

"Your lives?" Heishin repeated. "Your lives mean nothing in the Shadow Realm."

"Heishin!" Pharaoh shouted. "Send us back to the outside world right now!"

Heishin grinned. "Beat me in a Shadow Game – a true Shadow Game – and I might consider it."

"I will."

Curtis put a hand on Pharaoh's arm. "No." He slowly climbed to his feet. "Let me."

"Curtis? Are you in any shape to duel?"

"Does it matter? This is personal."

"Curtis, no," Stephanie pleaded. She threw her arms around him. "We just got you back."

"I know, sis. But like I said, Heishin made it personal." He gently pushed his sister away and turned to Heishin. "You've been using my body to fight your battles long enough. Not anymore. Duel me, Heishin, right now, and when I win, you send us back and never bother us again."

"And don't think about going back on your end of the bargain," Pharaoh warned. "The Shadow Realm will know."

"As you wish, boy, but when you lose, your soul will replace mine in the Shadow Realm," Heishin said.

"Deal."

There was a collective gasp; even Seto was taken aback. "Are you for real?" Joey asked. "I'm pretty sure the Shadow Realm ain't no picnic."

"Don't worry, Joey," Curtis assured him. "I don't plan on losing."

"Look, Curtis, not for nothing, pal, but your deck ain't exactly the best around," Joey said. "You might need some extra firepower. So here." He reached into his deck and pulled out a card. "You can borrow my Red Eyes Black Dragon until you win."

Curtis took the card from Joey. "Thanks, Joey."

"Take my cards too," Pharaoh said, handing Curtis a stack of cards.

Curtis flipped through the small stack. There were two Spell Cards – Swords of Revealing Light and Ancient Rules – six Trap Cards – Magical Hats, Birthright, two copies of Mirror Force, Magic Cylinder, and Spellbindig Circle – the Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and the three Egyptian God Cards – the Sky Dragon of Osiris, the Winged Dragon of Ra, and Obelisk the Tormentor.

"You're seriously letting me borrow the gods?" Curtis asked, confused.

Pharaoh handed him a piece of paper. "If you summon Ra, you'll need to recite this incantation." Curtis put the paper in his pocket and put the cards in his deck.

"Hey." Curtis turned to Seto; he, too, had a small stack of cards in his hand, but he was looking away from Curtis, almost like he was embarrassed. "I expect them back when you're done with this duel."

Curtis took the stack and flipped through the cards – the Trap Card Trap Hole, the Spell Cards Offerings to the Doomed, Polymerization, and Flute of Summoning Dragon, Lord of Dragons, and all three Blue Eyes White Dragons.

"I'll take good care of them and put them to good use, Seto. I promise." He added those cards to his deck and shuffled. "I'll take care of all of your cards, and you'll get them back when I'm finished with this duel." He put his deck into the deck slot of his duel disk and activated the device, his Life Points being set to 8000.

"Curtis, remember," Pharaoh said. "Trust yourself. Trust your deck. Trust in the Heart of the Cards."

Curtis nodded, and stepped forward. "Heishin. I'm sure you've heard this enough today, but like Pharaoh said earlier, it's time to duel!"

"This duel will not be like any other duel you've ever played, boy," Heishin said as five stone tablets appeared in front of him. "There are severe penalties for cheating, and when you lose Life Points, you also lose your own life energy. In short, the penalty for cheating or losing all of your Life Points is to lose your life."

"So basically I'll end up dead if I decide to say 'screw the rules' and play how I want. Fine." He drew five cards. "I'll start."

"Be my guest."

"I play the Field Spell Card Temple of the Six. Every time I summon a Six Samurai monster, I add a counter to this card, and for every counter, your monsters lose 100 Attack Points. And I'll add a counter to it because I'm going to summon The Six Samurai – Irou in Attack Position. Then I'll play the continuous Spell Card The A. Forces, to give all my warriors a 200 Attack Point boost for each warrior I control, so Irou's 1700 Attack Points become 1900. Finally, I'll set one card face down. Your move. Though I imagine stone is much more difficult to play with than cards."

A sixth stone tablet appeared in front of Heishin. "I summon Cloud of Darkness in Attack Position." A shapely woman surrounded by snake-like tendrils appeared. "Both monsters have the same attack power of 1900, so I end my turn now."

Curtis drew a card from his deck. "Your Cloud of Darkness has 1900 by default, right? Well, thanks to the effect of Temple of the Six, that 1900 becomes 1800, and it now becomes 1700 because I'm adding another counter onto it, because I'm summoning The Six Samurai – Kamon in Attack Position. He has 1500 Attack Points by default, but The A. Forces turns that into 1700. And now – Irou, destroy Cloud of Darkness!" Irou slashed at Cloud of Darkness, cutting off her tendrils before cutting off her arms. She exploded in a cloud of smoke, and Heishin's Life Points dropped to 7800. "Now, Kamon, attack directly!" Kamon threw his stick of dynamite; it exploded, and Heishin's Life Points dropped to 6100. "You're up, asshole."

A new stone tablet appeared. "I summon Garland, the Dark Knight, in Attack Position." A man in jet black armor and armed with a wide sword appeared. "His default Attack Points are set at 2000."

"Down to 1800 because of my Field Spell Card," Curtis reminded him.

"Make your move."

Curtis drew a card – the Magic Cylinder Trap Card. "I'll put one card face down, and Irou will attack Garland!"

"I'm afraid not," Heishin said as Irou charged. "Garland has a special ability. Whenever he's attacked by a monster of a similar type – in this case, Warrior – his Attack Points increase by 300, so your samurai is destroyed." Irou was bisected by Garland's large sword. "And you lose 100 Life Points." Curtis's Life Points dropped to 7900 as he moved the card to the Graveyard. "Are you finished?"

Curtis looked at the only Spell Card in his hand – Prohibition – and his two face down cards – Magic Cylinder and Magical Hats. There wasn't much else he could do. "I switch Kamon to Defense Position and end my turn."

A new stone tablet appeared before Heishin. "I sacrifice Garland to bring out Sin's Harvester in Attack Position!" Garland was replaced with a large lizard-looking creature. "Sin's Harvester has an attack power of 2200. True, that becomes 2000 thanks to your Field Spell Card, but that will be more than enough to destroy your samurai. Do it, Sin's Harvester." Sin's Harvester reached down to swallow Kamon.

"Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card Magical Hats!" Four hats appeared on the field, one covering Kamon. "Have fun."

Heishin growled. "Sin, destroy the front left hat." Sin bit down on the front left hat. There was nothing under it. Heishin growled again. "Destroy the one that was right next to it." Again, an empty hat.

"Third time's the charm," Curtis teased. Sin's Harvest destroyed the third hat; there was nothing under it. "Wah-wah." The final hat dissolved; Kamon was safe. "Better luck next time."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, no, no – yeah, I am. It's my move." He drew a card. "I switch Kamon back to Defense Position, then put a card face down. Your turn."

A new stone tablet appeared. "Sin's Harvest, destroy Kamon!"

"Or not. Activate Magic Cylinder! Sin's Harvest destroys him instead, and you lose 2000 Life Points." Sin's Harvest exploded, and Heishin's Life Points dropped down to 5800. "Kamon gets to stay. Are you done?"

"I hide one tablet and end my turn."

Curtis drew a new card. "I play the Trap Card Reckless Greed to draw two cards, but skip my next two Draw Phases." He picked up two new cards, two Spell Cards – Magical Mallet and Lightning Vortex. "Now I summon The Immortal Bushi in Attack Position." A balding man carrying two swords appeared next to Kamon; a third Bushido Counter was placed on Temple of the Six, and Bushi's Attack Points increased to 1400.. "And I'll switch Kamon to Attack Position. Kamon, attack him directly." Another stick of dynamite exploded, dropping Heishin's Life Points to 4100. "Bushi, you too." Bushi slashed.

"I think not!" Heishin cried. "You activated my own trap, Mirror Force. All of your monsters are destroyed." Both samurai exploded.

"Shit." He looked at the cards in his hand – three Spell Cards. "I play Magical Mallet to add the last two cards of my hand to my deck. I'll then shuffle and draw two new cards." He put those two cards into his deck, shuffled, and drew two new cards – Lord of Dragons and Shien's Daredevil. "I summon Shien's Daredevil in Attack Position, add one more Bushido Counter to Temple of the Six, and Daredevil's Attack Points go from 1600 to 1800. He also gains and additional 300 Attack Points because when he's Normal Summoned, he gets a Bushido Counter, so that 1800 becomes 2100. And now, I end my turn."

A new tablet appeared. "I summon Leviathan in Attack Position." A large serpentine creature appeared, snarling and hissing at Shien's Daredevil, who tightened his grip on his sword. "And I play the De-Spell to rid myself of that meddling Temple of the Six. This means that Leviathan's Attack Points remain at 1800."

"Shien's Daredevil has 1800 Attack Points too, so it's a push."

"Perhaps, but not when I play this – Raigeki!" Lightning struck the entire field. One bolt struck Shien's Daredevil, destroying him. "And now your Life Points are wide open. Leviathan, attack!" Curtis cried out in pain as Leviathan coiled around him and bit into his shoulder, dropping his Life Points to 5900.

"Curtis!" his mother cried out.

"Relax," Seto said calmly. "Curtis is still in the lead by 1800 Life Points. And with the cards Yugi, Joey and I gave him, that gap will widen."

Curtis drew a new card. "I play the Spell Card Swords of Revealing Light. That will protect me for three turns while I try to find some stronger monsters to play. Your move."

"You are only prolonging the inevitable," Heishin said as a new tablet materialized. "You may as well take your turn."

Curtis breathed a sigh of relief as he drew a new card. He was safe, for the moment.

The card he drew was one of Seto Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragons. That couldn't help him, not right now. Sure, he had the Lord of Dragons in his hand, but unless he drew another Blue Eyes and the Flute of Summoning Dragon within the next two turns, he couldn't bring it out. "I summon Lord of Dragons in Attack Position." The Lord of Dragons appeared on the field.

"Your dragon is still much weaker than my Leviathan," Heishin pointed out.

"Maybe, but that might not last for too long."

"He's up to something, isn't he?" Stephanie asked.

"Maybe," Tea answered. "It looks like he's learning to bluff his opponent."

"But unless he draws a powerful monster to help him, he won't be able to attack," Joey put in. "And what are the chances he'd draw the cards he needs?"

"Come on, Curtis," Julianne prayed. "You can win this, baby."

"It's your move," Curtis said.

"Then I sacrifice Leviathan to summon Yzamat in Attack Position!" Leviathan faded away, and was replaced with a large cat-like monster with long fangs and quills protruding from nearly every part of its body. "That ends my turn."

The next card Curtis drew was the Flute of Summoning Dragon. All he had to do was hope that the next card was the second Blue Eyes White Dragon. "I put Lord of Dragons in Defense Position. Go."

Another stone tablet appeared in front of Heishin. "I pass."

Curtis reached out to his deck; pulled off that top card.

"YES! I play the Flute of Summoning Dragon!" The Lord of Dragons blew on the flute. "This allows me to summon two dragons from my hand, and the dragons I choose are two of the dragons Seto gave me – two Blue Eyes White Dragons!" The two massive dragons appeared on either side of the Lord of Dragons, roaring and snarling at Yzamat. "Each dragon has an attack power of 3000. How many Attack Points does your Yzamat have?"

"2250."

"Then how about I be a nice guy and just attack you once." One of the dragons opened its mouth, firing a stream of white energy and obliterating Yzamat. Heishin's Life Points dropped down to 3550. "Any last wishes?"

"Just putting one tablet face down," Heishin replied as a new tablet appeared. "And that makes three turns." The gold swords vanished.

"My move," Curtis announced as he drew a card. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

A sixth tablet appeared. "I summon Tonberry in Attack Position." A small goblin armed with a sharp knife materialized. "Tonberry may only have 200 Attack Points, but he also has a special ability. When he's summoned, I gain an extra 1000 Life Points." His Life Points went up to 4550.

"That's…not good for me."

"Not exactly, no. Take your turn."

Curtis eyes Heishin as he drew a card. He was up to something; otherwise, he wouldn't have summoned that monster in Attack Position without some kind of a backup. He looked at the card he just drew – Yugi's Dark Magician. It was a powerful monster, but he couldn't summon it; he didn't want to sacrifice any of the dragons or the Lord of Dragons. "You can say goodbye to those 1000 Life Points along with an extra 1800. Blue Eyes, take out that goblin."

"I think not," Heishin said. "I play my Trap, Negate Attack."

"Damn. I end my turn."

"And I sacrifice Tonberry to summon another Yzamat to the field," Heishin announced. Yzamat growled at the dragons. "And he destroys your Lord of Dragons." Lord of Dragons was pierced with several quills.

"At least Curtis doesn't lose any Life Points because Lord of Dragons was in Defense Position," Mokuba said. "So that's good."

"Yeah, but look at him," Stephanie said, pointing to Curtis. He was leaning slightly forward, breathing heavily. "He doesn't look too good."

"The Shadow Realm is starting to take a toll on him," Pharaoh explained. "Because he's lost almost half of his Life Points, he's also lost half of his life energy. It's like Heishin said, remember? That is the true nature of a Shadow Game. It's why the ancient Pharaohs had them sealed away. To be honest, it's a wonder Curtis has lasted this long."

Curtis reached for his deck. He was finding it difficult to breathe, but he had to press on. He pulled the top card off. It was a Spell Card, Ancient Rules. He looked at the only other card in his hand, Dark Magician. He could summon it, then have three powerful monsters on the field, or he could wait until he had the third Blue Eyes and Polymerization.

 _Man, I have no idea what to do. I really want to get that Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but I want to use Yugi's cards too. And I still have yet to see Joey's cards. Man, what do I do?_

"Are you going to make a move?" Heishin pressed.

"Fine! I play the Spell Card Ancient Rules to Special Summon the Dark Magician from my hand!" The Dark Magician appeared between the two Blue Eyes White Dragons. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, destroy that Yzamat!" Yzamat was enveloped in the white energy stream from the dragon's mouth, and Heishin's Life Points dropped to 4050. "Two more direct attacks and it's all over. Dark Magician, attack!"

"I activate my Trap, Negate Attack."

"Damn. Your move."

A new stone tablet appeared. "I play Monster Reborn to bring Yzamat back." Yzamat returned to the field, roaring and snarling at Curtis's three monsters. "Next I activate Sanctity. You would know it as Card of Sanctity, allowing you to draw until you have six cards."

"Gee, damn decent of you," Curtis snarked as he drew his six cards – Elder of the Six Samurai, Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, Heavy Storm, Spirit of the Six Samurai, Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Negate Attack. "Are you done?"

"For the moment, yes."

"Good," Curtis said as he drew another card – the Trap Card Shattered Axe. "I set three cards face down, then summon Elder of the Six Samurai in Attack Position, and equip him with the Spirit of the Six Samurai to increase his Attack Power to 900. Now, Blue Eyes, destroy Yzamat again!" Yzamat was once again vaporized, and Heishin's Life Points decreased to 3550. "Had enough yet?"

"Far from it," Heishin replied as he gained a new stone tablet. "I play my own Ancient Rules to summon Hell's Orphan in Attack Position!" A large monster, resembling two men stuck together back to back, appeared on the field. It moaned and groaned, as if it were in pain. "Hell's Orphan has an attack power of 3050, so you can say goodbye to one of your Blue Eyes White Dragons." Beams of electricity shot out of Orphan's fingers.

"I don't think so," Curtis said. "Activate Negate Attack, stopping your attack and ending your Battle Phase."

Heishin scowled. "Your move."

Curtis drew a new card – the Dark Magician Girl. "I sacrifice Elder of the Six Samurai to summon Dark Magician Girl to the field." A cute girl in small blue and pink wizard's robes appeared next to the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "Next I play the Trap Card Shattered Axe to reduce your monster's Attack Points by 500 points." Hell's Orphan lost 500 Attack Points, dropping down to 2550. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack!"

"I think not," Heishin said. "I activate my Trap, Mirror Wall. This Trap not only stops your attack, but also reduces your dragon's attack by half."

"No! He's only got 1500 Attack Points then!"

"Smart boy."

"Well, I won't let that stop me for much longer," Curtis said. "I play my Spell Card Heavy Storm to destroy all Spells and Traps on the field."

"You realize that negates the effect of your Shattered Axe, right?" Heishin asked as the high winds destroyed his Mirror Wall.

"Worth it," Curtis answered as he put his cards into the Graveyard. "Your monster still only has 2550 Attack Points."

"True, but it will be more than enough to destroy your Dark Magician." Dark Magician was enveloped in dark energy and imploded. Curtis's Life Points fell to 5850.

"Well, thanks for that," Curtis snickered. "For each Dark Magician in my Graveyard, Dark Magician Girl gains an extra 300 Attack Points."

"That still doesn't matter much."

"Maybe," Curtis said. "But it's my turn, and I draw." His eyes went wide when he saw what card he had just picked up –

Obelisk the Tormentor!

 _Holy shit. I didn't think I'd be pulling him. I want to play him, but….Screw it._ "I sacrifice the three monsters I have on my side of the field to summon a more powerful creature!" The two dragons and Dark Magician Girl faded away. "And the monster I summon in their place is Obelisk the Tormentor!"

"Oh boy, now it's getting good," Joey cheered.

"That idiot," Seto sneered. "Obelisk needs two more sacrifices to attack."

"That's if you want his attack power to be borderline infinite," Pharaoh corrected him. "For a regular attack, that sacrifice isn't necessary."

Curtis put the card on the space on the duel disk. He felt the disk vibrate, and the blue card glowed.

And from out of the ground came a massive creature, blue in color, with wide shoulders and thick arms and a thick chest. Its shoulders were spiked, as was the top of its head. Wings sprouted from the backs of its shoulders. Its massive hands were balled into large fists. The creature's mouth was lipless, showing the large, gumless teeth set into a sinister grin. Tiny red eyes glared down at Heishin from underneath the blue jewel on its head.

"That thing is huge!" Stephanie breathed.

"That's Obelisk the Tormentor," Seto said. "Another Egyptian God Card."

"Obelisk, destroy Orphan!" Curtis cried. Obelisk the Tormentor lunged for Hell's Orphan and punched a hand through the other monster, destroying it and dropping Heishin's Life Points to 2600. Heishin was sent flying back, landing hard on the ground. "Ha! How do you like that?"

Heishin slowly picked himself up off the ground. "My move. I set a monster in Defense Position. It's all I can do for the moment."

"I thought as much," Curtis taunted as he pulled a new card. It was Joey's Spell Card, Scapegoat. _Save that for later,_ he thought. "Okay, Heishin," he called. "I play the Spell Card Scapegoat." Four colored goats appeared on the field, two on either side of Obelisk the Tormentor. "Your turn."

A new tablet appeared. "I play Sanctity. You know what that does."

"Yeah, yeah," Curtis said as he drew four new cards – Blue Eyes White Dragon, Call of the Haunted, Birthright, and Trap Hole. "I set three cards face down, then sacrifice two of my goats to bring out another Blue Eyes White Dragon." Two goats vanished as a majestic white dragon took their place. "I'll let you sweat it out for another turn."

"As you wish." A new tablet appeared. "I sacrifice my face down monster to summon the Earl of Demise in Attack Position." A rotting man holding a sword appeared. "Then I'll give him the Black Pendant, increasing his 2000 Attack Points to 2500."

"You are such a dumbass," Curtis said. "He's still weaker than my Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"True, but that's why I'm putting another face down, just in case. Your move."

Curtis drew a card. It was the Spell Card, Polymerization. He grinned. "I play two Trap Cards, Birthright and Call of the Haunted, to bring my two Blue Eyes White Dragons back from the Graveyard. Then I'll play Polymerization to fuse them together into the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The three heads of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon roared at the rotten mass of flesh called the Earl of Demise. "You're up."

"Why are you not attacking?" Heishin asked.

"That's a good question," Tristan agreed. "Is he waiting for something?"

"He must be," Tea guessed. "Look at his face." They all looked at that cheeky grin on Curtis's face. "I've seen that face on Yugi and Joey plenty of times. He's got a plan."

Stephanie looked at Obelisk the Tormentor, its imposing size towering over the already large Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "I wonder if he's hoping to somehow get out the other two gods?" she asked.

"It's possible," Mokuba answered. "Assuming he draws the right cards."

"He will," Pharaoh assured him. "All he has to do is believe in himself and his deck. Believe me, that gets you farther than you think in any duel."

"Heart of the Cards or pure dumb luck?" Seto asked. "Dumb luck, if you ask me."

"Well, I hope dumb luck pulls through for him," Julianne silently prayed. "Come on, Curtis. You can do it."

Heishin scanned the six stone tablets in front of him. There was nothing he could use, but he still wasn't going to surrender. He refused to surrender himself to the Shadow Realm again. He switched Earl of Demise into Defense Position.

"Is that it?" Curtis asked. "Okay, it's my turn." He drew Great Shogun Shien. "Okay, may as well attack. You won't lose any Life Points, but the Ultimate Dragon is going to destroy your zombie guy." Earl of Demise was enveloped in the large stream of energy from the Ultimate Dragon's three mouths. "Your turn."

A new tablet appeared. "I play my Trap, Just Desserts. You lose 500 Life Points for every monster you have on the field." Curtis cried out in agony as his Life Points dropped to 5350. And because he destroyed Earl of Demise while it was equipped with Black Pendant, his Life Points dropped further, to 4850. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily. "1500 points of damage in one turn. Can you feel your life force ebbing away?"

Curtis took several deep breaths, ignoring the pain he was feeling in his body. _Get on your feet_ , Seto's voice echoed in his mind. _A true duelist never lets his knees touch the floor._

Slowly, Curtis climbed to his feet. He gripped the three cards in his hand and drew a fourth – the Trap Card, The Emperor's Holiday. "I sacrifice my last two Scapegoats to summon Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon." The last two goats faded away, replaced by the jet black dragon. "Oh, and look at that – you left yourself wide open."

"Or did I?" Heishin asked. "I play a Trap, Stop Attack! This puts all of your monsters into Defense Position."

"Fine, fine," Curtis grumbled as he switched his monsters into Defense Position. "You're up, jackass."

A new tablet appeared. "I summon Doom Train in Attack Position," he announced, bringing forth a train engine with a demonic face on the front.

"And that activates MY Trap Card, Trap Hole," Curtis announced, and the Doom Train fell into the deep chasm that appeared underneath it.

"Well, I have another Spell ready," Heishin said. "Destruction. You would know it as Card Destruction. You have to get rid of all of your cards and draw a fresh hand."

"Fine, whatever," Curtis said as he dropped his three cards into the Graveyard and drew five new cards – Magical Arm Shield; Enishi, Shien's Chancellor; Offerings to the Doomed; The Six Samurai, Yariza; and the Sky Dragon of Osiris. "Are you done?"

"I already summoned, so it's your move."

Curtis drew a new card – Shien's Squire. That wasn't what he wanted. "I'll set two cards face down, then summon The Six Samurai – Yariza in Attack Position." Yariza appeared next to Obelisk, barely coming up to the god's ankle. "Your move."

A new tablet appeared. "I think I know what you're up to," he said. "I summon another Tonberry in Attack Position." Due to Tonberry's effect, Heishin gained another 1000 Life Points, bringing him up to 3600. "And then I play my own Call of the Haunted to bring back another Tonberry." His Life Points shot up to 4600 as a second Tonberry appeared on the field. "Next I'll set one face down and leave it to you."

"Suit yourself," Curtis said as he picked up a new card. "I sacrifice The Six Samurai – Yariza to summon Enishi, Shien's Chancellor in Attack Position, and he's going to attack your Tonberry!" The man in the brown robes that had appeared pulled out a sword and prepared to attack.

"Not quite," Heishin sneered. "Negate Attack."

"Shit. Fine; it's your turn."

A new tablet appeared in front of Heishin. "I sacrifice my two Tonberries to summon The Dark Emperor in Attack Position!" A tall man in gold armor appeared, taking the place of the two Tonberries. "He has an attack power of 3500 and his special ability allows me to attack twice per turn. Dark Emperor, destroy Enishi!" Enishi was skewered by the Dark Emperor's speark, and Curtis's Life Points dropped to 3550.

Curtis clutched his chest; he felt like he was the one who had been stabbed in the chest. His breath came in sharp bursts as he tried to ignore the pain. He reached for his deck and pulled up the top card. "I play the Spell Card I just played, Reinforcement of the Army, to add one Level Four or lower Warrior monster from my deck to my hand. "And the monster I choose," he added as he shuffled his deck, "is the Future Samurai, who I'm going to summon. Now, I'll use her special ability. By discarding one card –" He dropped Shien's Squire into the Graveyard – "I can banish one of my opponent's monsters, and since you only have one, well, you know."

"Oh, I would, except for Dark Emperor's other effect," Heishin said. "He's immune to monster effects."

"Now that's just cheap. But he can still be destroyed. So I switch Obelisk the Tormentor to Attack Position and I attack and destroy your Dark Emperor!" Dark Emperor was obliterated by Obelisk's fist, and Heishin's Life Points dropped to 4100. "It's your move."

"Way to go, Curtis!" Stephanie cheered. "You show that creep, little brother!"

Heishin growled. "I play a Spell, another Ancient Rules, to summon X-Death from my hand!" A tall, humanoid monster in ornate blue and white armor appeared on the field. "He has an attack power of 4000 and while not having any special abilities, is still a force to be reckoned with. X-Death, destroy that samurai!"

"Not so fast!" Curtis cried. "Activate Quick-Play Spell, Offerings to the Doomed!" X-Death was wrapped up in bandages and pulled into the floor. "Whew. That was close. My move." He reached for his deck, but stopped.

 _I've been stalling for so long, because I hoped I could get all three Egyptian God Cards out on the field, but it looks like I might only get two. Unless there's something else here that I can use – No! No! You've toyed with him long enough. But I want to make him feel the pain of failure. You know what, screw it._

"First, I'll sacrifice Red Eyes Black Dragon, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and Future Samurai to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra from my hand!" Curtis announced. The three other monsters vanished, being replaced by a golden sphere. Curtis pulled the paper Pharaoh had given him out of his pocket. "Pharaoh told me that when I summon him I have to say this. 'Almighty guardian of sun and sky, please hear my cry. Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. I beseech thee, grace our humble game. Bur first, I shall call out thy name. WINGED DRAGON OF RA!"

The orb began to change. Two massive wings sprouted from it. A long tail emerged, as did two feet, each foot ending in sharp talons. The long neck emerged from the orb, the head ending in a sharp beak of a mouth.

"Oh my god," Juliane breathed. "I – I thought Obelisk and Osiris were big. Ra is huge!"

Heishin growled. "Yeah, you've probably figured out that I've been playing you this entire time," Curtis said. "And you'd be right. I have been toying with you, because I've been waiting for the right cards to present themselves. You see, before we started this duel, the Pharaoh told me something. He told me to trust myself, my deck, and to believe in the Heart of the Cards. The Heart of the Cards have been guiding me this entire game, and has led me to have two of the three Egyptian God Cards on my side of the field. And now, Heishin, it's time to end this duel. Obelisk the Tormentor, Winged Dragon of Ra, attack him directly!"

"Not so," Heishin said. "I have a third Negate Attack ready."

"Damn it!"

"You should have finished me off when you had the chance," Heishin said as a new tablet appeared in front of him. "Otherwise I would not have been able to set that particular trap. But it looks like I can't do much of anything else this turn, so I'll set this one in Defense position and end my turn."

Curtis reached for his deck. "I summon The Six Samurai – Irou in Attack Position." Irou appeared on the field. "Irou, destroy that defending monster." It was another Tonberry. "Now, Ra, attack him directly and end this duel!"

Heishin screamed in pain as Ra's flames engulfed him, dropping his Life Points down to 0. He fell to his knees as the flames died down, and his stone tablets shattered.

"Yes!" Stephanie cried. "Curtis won!" She hugged her mother. "He won!"

"Atta boy!" Joey cheered.

"You did good, Curtis," Tristan added.

"Thank goodness," Tea breathed.

Seto smirked. "Not bad at all."

Pharaoh smiled. "Well done, Curtis."

Heishin's fist hit the ground. "Why? Why? How could I lose? That was not meant to happen!"

"Look at you," Curtis said. "Sitting on the ground, crying like a little bitch. Look at me, Heishin. Look at me!" Heishin looked up at Curtis as he brought out the third and final god – the Sky Dragon of Osiris. The massive red dragon descended from the sky, joining its brothers. "You want to know why I won that duel, Heishin? It wasn't just because I've got the gods on my side. I won because I've got something you will never have. I have friends and family backing me up, and I have the Heart of the Cards guiding me. I have reasons for dueling, because when you decided to take me, you made this personal. And I made it my personal goal to see to it that you were defeated. And here you are, lying in the dirt, broken and defeated. You are a worthless piece of shit, you know that, don't you? I bet you were like that three thousand years ago. And so….Egyptian Gods, send him back to hell!"

Heishin screamed as three beams of energy hit him, obliterating his spirit.

The dark cloud began to fade away. With Heishin defeated, there was nothing and no one holding the Shadow Realm together.


	14. A True Duelist

**A TRUE DUELIST**

Curtis deactivated his duel disk as the dark cloud of the Shadow Realm faded away. The pain he had been feeling began to ebb. He took several breaths and wiped some sweat from his forehead. Heishin had put up a hard fight, no doubt about it.

His mother hurried over to him and threw her arms around him. "You won! I'm so proud of you, Curtis."

"I'm just glad he's gone," Curtis said as he hugged her back. Stephanie joined them, hugging Curtis. "That's not something I want to go through again."

Everyone else joined them. "Way to go, Curtis," Joey cheered. "You whipped that guy."

"I don't think I could have done it without you guys backing me up," Curtis said. "Speaking of which." He flipped through his deck, pulling out the cards everyone else had loaned him. "Here are your cards back, guys. Thanks a lot for letting me use them."

"Don't get used to it," Seto said as he took his cards back. "It was just a one time thing."

Joey and Pharaoh took their cards back. "You played well, Curtis," Pharaoh said. "I'm impressed. You show the promise of a true duelist."

"You think so?"

Pharaoh was surrounded by the light coming from the Millennium Puzzle, giving control back to Yugi. "If he thinks so, then I do too," Yugi said.

Seto scowled. "Yeah, well, don't expect to ever get to my level," he said as he turned to the limo. "Let's go, Mokuba."

"Hey, wait for me!" Mokuba called as he hurried after his brother. "See you guys later!"

They watched as the limousine pulled away, moving down the street and out of sight – not just of them, but the pedestrians, motorists, and police officers.

Joey stretched. "Hey, I'm starved. What do you guys say we stop and get a pizza?"

"Actually, Joey," Curtis said softly, "the only thing I want to do is go home and take a very long nap."

 ** _CURTIS MILLER AND FRIENDS WILL RETURN IN_**

 ** _"_** ** _DUELIST OF THE ROSES"_**


End file.
